While I have several writing buddies, they are all amateurs like myself — and too easy to break down when I beg them to allow me to “change things up a bit and hand in a freshly updated chapter.” But I have also met several published authors and writing teachers in my short journey. And with that I saw great potential in finding someone to give me that much-needed kick in the pants.

So, to update you on my status . . .

I hired a mentor at a very reasonable monthly fee. (Randy, last month I would have paid you almost any amount for that magic pill! Wink, wink.) Anyway, this mentor is an author I’d taken a class from, and I always kept her in the back of my mind as someone I’d love to have as an editor someday when I’d finally finish a stinkin’ novel. When I called her, she immediately accepted my request to hire her as my mentor. Our personalities mesh well and she’s the perfect fit for my writing genre.

We have now been working together for two months and things have been going splendidly. The first month was a brainstorming session with me, myself and I. I also researched, plotted, sketched, etc. During that time I was contractually allowed to call or email her at anytime. Let me just say, she got quite a few of each. But she was there when I needed her and always had the best strategy that would pick me up and send me on my way.

At the start of June I was to begin writing. No more brainstorming, no more researching, no more character sketching, etc. Just write, write, write. And that’s just what I’ve done. Of course, this wasn’t the magic pill to keep away my writing demon. It reared it’s ugliness often. But my mentor helped me slay that demon each time.

Our current strategy is to have me turn in work at the end of each month. We may have to change that to weekly or bi-weekly since I still have the tendency to go back and fiddle with things.

The major incentive (similar to something like paying $10 each time I miss a deadline) is to complete the novel earlier than anticipated, thus completing the contract and the payments and then being able to move into the true editing phase. My personal goal is to complete more than the 20 pages per month we agreed on in the contract.

And I’m happy to say that I’ve done just that! I rocked it this month! I will be turning in about 40 pages tomorrow morning.

Thanks again, Randy, for all your fabulous advice and your inspirational words that give us all the courage to be writers. You rock!

In fact my writers block issues are never a matter of getting started, or seeing a beginning or a middle, but the end, or some aspect of the story eludes me.

It seems that Rebecca’s was motivation, or maybe the need for a project manager. I also congratulate her for seeing the problem for what is was and taking the appropriate steps.

I’m sure the answer to my issue is more of mechanics and requires a “try again and again until you get it right” approach, or is there something else?

I could have written Rebecca’s question right down to the smallest punctuation mark! It’s easy for me to write, write, write.

The problem is hitting a brick wall at about 20,000 words and never going back. I started so many projects last year, it’s a cryin’ shame, but the fact that I finished nothing is an even bigger cryin’ shame.

I was going to ask Randy if pausing in the middle of writing to do more design work is allowable. Can I count words of design toward words written on any given day.

But I see from Rebecca’s response, that she was given one month to plan, then she began writing with no looking back.

Mmm.

I guess that answers my question.

Thanks to Rebecca for her original question and to Randy for his answer. I’m hoping something in both will stick in my brain and help me, too!

Carrie

Stephen King writes 2000 words a day, everyday.That’s huge.

My quota is 1000 words a day 6 days a week: 6000 words weekly. That allows me to finish a novel within 3 months (1st draft at least).
Time unity (don’t know what’s the proper wording in English) is important.

I was having trouble finishing a YA novel last year. I met an agent at a conference who was interested and I told her it would be finished in ONE MONTH. Yikes!! I came down with swine flu the final week, so I propped myself up on the couch with pillows, fired up the lap top, armed myself with hot tea and Tylenol and wrote. Sure, much of what I wrote was terrible, but when I emerged out of my feverish, muscle aching stupor, I had something to work with, and I finished just in time. If I had not had that deadline, I would have done nothing by lay there. And who knows if the novel would be finished?

Deadlines are your friends when you need to get something finished.

-Ian
theorphanbook.wordpress.com

We told everyone we knew that we were doing it so embarrassment level would be high should we fail. I gave daily updates to the people that cared and just typed. One letter at a time.

I rolled in at 50,026 words, what can I say I am not an overachiever. But I did finish, we all did, and whatever scary demon I thought was waiting for me at “the end” wasn’t there.

I think the main thing I learned about myself is I am a deadline person, if I don’t have a definite finish point, I just won’t ever finish.