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Monday, May 30, 2016

SEASON OF FRUSTRATION

By: Celia Yeary

More and more, I'm reading and hearing an increased amount of frustration from authors. Maybe I notice this because, I, too, feel a kind of restlessness and weariness and even a bit of failure.

This feeling is familiar from my teaching years. It's MAY, for heaven's sake! School is winding down, coming to a close, and we can't wait to escape our present situation. May always brings the same feelings I've described, even in retirement. During the school year, didn't we always believe as soon as that last bell rang we'd be free? And happy? And no longer frustrated?

Remember January 2016? We were upbeat and optimistic, a new year had begun, and we had thoughts of promise and success. It's like getting a do-over.

Now, as summer approaches, we once again need to shake off an old cloak of fatigue and boredom.
We authors don't get a free vacation as teachers do. Teachers at least have the summer to experience different activities, such as golf, swimming, camping, cruising, or even sign up for a few hours to work on another degree. Yes, we can do those things, and we should, but for three months? Yes, when I was a teacher.But now as an author? Take a break from writing, but make it short. Or better yet, combine it with a relaxing get-away.

What shall we do about the frustration?
For starters, look at all your published books. Just this much is a great accomplishment, so pat yourself on the back.Now study them and locate the main source of your disquiet. Which one needs the most attention? Which one is not selling as it should, or maybe just not at all? Choose that one to channel all your promotional energy and decide what you can do. A new excerpt to post on the loops? A give-away contest? A fresh post for a guest blog? Some new unique gimmick concerning that book?

Are you stuck on a WIP? Look at it with a critical eye. Is it as good as you thought it might be? Or is it rather staid and mundane? Study it to determine if it's worth saving, or just a bunch of nonsense you could easily delete and get out of your hair.
Would you feel better if you began a new story? Well, by all means, do. That's the best way, in my opinion, to feel better. A new plot, a new direction, a new set of characters. Why, it's just like going on vacation.

Whatever you do, find some way to change your routine. You might even want to step away a couple of weeks and read and perhaps make notes for new ideas. Then when the vacation is over, return and get to work.
I'm in it with you all the way. This is how I feel sometimes, so I speak from experience. Just remember...You are a writer. Whether the world loves your work or not, you do...and in the end, that's all that matters.

Progress on a WIP: Series—Brides of Winchester County-Book I: Noel

Out of the darkness, a sound brought Noel awake. Heavy footsteps. Men in boots, walking up and down the hall.
“Hey, Bryce. Those dullards up yet?”
“’Morning, Carl. Three are and on their way to the dining hall.”
“I swear, if this is the best we can get, I’m about ready to throw in the towel.”
“Gotcha. But these young guns are the best I could round up in San Antonio last week. I’m real surprised they made it this far. Two more are coming, if they ever get their sorry butts out of bed.”
“All right. See you downstairs.”
“Woody! Taylor! Get out here. Now! Or hightail it back to San Antone.”
“Yes, sir, yes, sir, yes sir.”
“One yes sir will suffice.”
“Will..huh?”
“Suffice…oh, forget it. Get on down to breakfast. We need to ride out in about half an hour. If you’re not with us, forget the job and ride on back where you came from.”
“Yes, sir, yes…”
“Shut up and go eat!”

Noel laughed out loud. Now she was wide awake. Bryce McKinley was rounding up his men and would ride out in thirty minutes. Where did that leave her and Della? Who was to come fetch them? Or would anyone? Were they left on their own?
Maybe she should awaken Della so both could dress and go down to breakfast. Truly, she was as hungry as she’d ever been in her entire life.
Curiosity got the better of her. Securing the top of her dressing robe at her neck, she opened the door a crack to look out. Oh, my, there was Bryce staring right at her. She opened it a bit more and watched as he tipped his hat and grinned. This one was wicked and would break some girl’s heart. Or maybe…
“Mornin’, ma’am. Sleep well?”
She couldn’t keep from laughing. “Well, yes, until about ten minutes ago.”
“I do apologize.”
He did not look one smidgen sorry.
“Well,”
“So…”
“You go first, Miss Blankenship.”
“I was only going to say ‘have a good day,’ but I do have a quick question.”
“And that would be?”
“Do you have any idea what Della and I are to do today? I mean, we can dress and eat breakfast, but then what?”
Bryce snapped his fingers. “Oh, yeah, I was to tell you J.B. will send someone to fetch you around nine this morning. He’s expecting you and Della out at the ranch for the day so y’all can talk.”
“J.B.?”
“John Bartlett. Mr. Bartlett.”
“Oh. All right. I’ll let you go about your duties, now.”
“Yes, ma’am. See you out at the ranch.”
As she shut the door, Bryce yelled one more time. “You knotheads get out here. And I mean now. We’ve got work to do. I’m leaving in thirty minutes. If you’re not at the livery, we’ll go off and leave you and you can kiss this sweet job good-bye.”
She leaned back on the door and sighed.
* * * * *
To be continued.....I hope.
Celia YearyRomance, and a little bit of Texas

32 comments:

  1. Celia,
    Thank you for the very useful advice. I tend to not take vacations. That may be due to the fact that I enjoy all the jobs I do. No real boredom there. Still, it can get overwhelming, and I get frustrated with the slowness of some of my writing projects.
    I will say, the current WIP sounds fascinating. Good luck. Doris

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    1. Hey, Doris...we don't take vacations--or travel much--anymore, because it's better for us to stay home these days. I have few days I feel frustrated, because like you, I can always find something to do. But when my writing stalls...I might get a bit grumpy.

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  2. Hi Celia, This is my first visit to the Prairie Rose blog, and I find your advice quite useful. My family can't understand why I can't just pack up my computer and drive across the country all summer. I'd love to do it, but productivity would take a nose dive. When you're immersed in the Civil or Revolutionary War you can't just pick up and go.

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    1. Hi, Becky--I'm honored my post is your first from PRP...Oh, so true...you do not want to stop a war! My husband wants to "just drive until we see something interesting." Uh, no, I don't think so. I need a destination. See you around PRP.

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  3. There is something about the snow melting and warmer weather that gives me spring fever. It's time to do something to fix a place in the house - had three rooms painted and shades renewed and lace valances hung. It's all nice and it helped get me back into the desk chair. Now days I don't have to do the painting myself, but it is an interruption none-the-less. I did just finish my ninth story so am taking a break before editing. I do agree with you that we all need a break once in a while until we hear those pesky voices back in our head with lots of ideas.

    Good luck with your new story, Celia. :)

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    1. Paisley--yes, spring does that to me, too. I want to clean up everything, let the house "air out," which makes my husband scratch his head. You understand that, don't you? I can hear those pesky voices in my head best when my house is in order. Thanks for your comment.

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  4. Hi Celia, good advice, but not for me. I'm frustrated, very frustrated, that is why I'm hiding in my niche. Taking a break doesn't help me. I have to solve my problem and then I'll be able to relax.

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    1. Uh, oh...this sounds serious, Mona. I do urge you to keep the door locked until you feel you can emerge intact. Good luck with your problem.

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  5. Thank you so much for this article, Celia. It can be a slippery slope into frustration in this business. I know I've been feeling a bit like just chucking it all. Thanks for the great tips. Your new story sounds like another super read.

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    1. Thanks, Kirsten--I've come close in the last six months to thinking about "chucking it all."....but something always brings me back from the brink. I just want to feel excited about my writing.

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  6. Your WIP, yes, please continue! Looks intriguing. I needed to read your post today. It's good to know we all go through many of the same frustrations as a writer, but more importantly it's good to be reminded of our accomplishments. Thank you.

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    1. Thanks, Patti--I wrote 12 pages and realized I had no plot. So it sat there for three weeks, when in the middle of one sleepless night, the problem came to me...that is, how to put the heroine and hero in some big trouble. Now, I know what it is! You can't have a good story without big Trouble, spelled with a capital T!

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  7. You're doing great on your WIP. I changedon't my beginning on mine, but have 1/3 left to go on it.

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    1. Yea. It's not easy keeping the flow going. Good luck.

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  8. You're doing great on your WIP. I changedon't my beginning on mine, but have 1/3 left to go on it.

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  9. What? You've become a mind reader now, Celia?
    Like you, I have been struggling. I finished my novel in November and it just released. That's a good thing. I outlined two novels to work on next and started working on the first one. I got to 10,000 words or so and then...well...it all bogged down and my enthusiasm came to a screeching halt. Meanwhile, that second story idea keeps playing out in my mind and the energy of it overrides the first book.
    So, I'm taking your advice. I'm going to take a little break and make up my mind which book is truly calling to me. I have plenty of other things to do in the meantime such as working on promoting my new release and working on blogs...and looking up at the clouds and allowing my imagination to do what it will.
    I see you're off to a good start with your new WIP. I remember the "knot heads" quest back a ways. I think having a series in mind is exhilarating like riding on the wind. I'm looking forward reading your new series, so get busy!

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  10. Sarah---You always inspire me just a little more. I'm about halfway through Home for the Heart, and it gets better and better as I read. That's the mark of a good plot..many books bog down at the halfway point, which is exactly opposite what it should do. You do have that down pat.
    I think about my WIP more than I write on it..which is not exactly good. But that's where I am in the process, so, I'll go with the flow. Thanks for the encouraging words.

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  11. Great post, Celia! That is good advice. It seems like, at least for me, when I get bogged down the solution comes when I least expect it--in the middle of the night, or when I'm eating dinner, etc. LOL I have so many ideas though, I will never be able to write them all.

    Now...as for this WIP...I hope you are planning to submit to PRP! We can never have enough Celia Yeary tales!

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    1. That's my plan, Cheryl. I just hope you like it...I don't want to drag this one out, but I was having trouble keeping it going. Now, though, I am creeping along.

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  12. Nice heartfelt post. It's so easy to get discouraged as a writer. There always seems to be so much to do. I know I keep stretching myself to try new things and I end up with a lot of balls in the air. This summer was supposed to be different, a time to kick back for a change. We'll see if that happens!

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    1. Oh, yeah...keeping all those balls in the air is not easy! I'm really a one-track minded girl. I like to have things for the summer because we don't travel anymore...at least not tours, etc. We will see family here and there.

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  13. You're doing great on your WIP. I changed the beginning on mine, but have 1/3 left to go on it.

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  14. You're doing great on your WIP. I changed the beginning on mine, but have 1/3 left to go on it.

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    1. Yeah, I'm thinking about changing the beginning on mine, too. Yet...I like it.
      We'll see.

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  15. Great wip excerpt, Celia.

    Definitely can relate to your post. It always helps to periodically refresh our goals and assess our current situation. We all can fall into ruts. Take care.

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    1. Thanks, Kristy. At least, we all seem to be in the same boat. I just hope it doesn't sink under our weight!

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  16. Hi Celia, as a retired teacher too...May always brings the count-down to mind. I always saved Romeo and Juliet for May, as it was my absolute favorite. And I'd show the Zefferilli flick the last couple days of class. Oh, thanks for the memories, I hear you about deciding what's best for you and be brave enough to do it. Great post!

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    1. Teaching teenagers was great, wasn't it? I found them the most interesting people I knew at the time.
      I'm not brave...I'm tenacious!I do recall the last couple of days of class. Such restlessness, and chatter, and sighing--oh, I was talking about myself.

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  17. Celia, Your post hit me netween the eyes this morning for two reasons. One, because I'm a retired teacher who has also experienced this May letdown scenario. And two, because I'm finally feeling mentally and physically among the living after a bout with bronchitis and pneumonia. I've never been sick like this, and it knocked the soup right out of me. So with the May doldrums compounded by illness, my perspective toward my writing progress is pretty dim and hopeless *sigh*. So, thank you for this encouragement right when I needed it most.


    (Enjoyed your excerpt teaser, too)

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    1. I love to meet retired teachers. It surprises me how many there are in my little world. By the end of May, I always felt like a bulldozer had run over me. But teaching in a private military boarding school with students from other countries, it was bittersweet. Many felt as though they were getting kicked out of the nest--many, also, looked upon some of us as their parents...almost.
      I had your condition winter before last, and almost cracked a rib from coughing. I didn't sleep at night for weeks. I resisted seeing a doctor because antibiotics have weird affects on me. But I finally went when my ribs were so sore I could not take a full breath. A bottle of codeine cough syrup got me over it...but codeine..hate the side effects.

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  18. Celia, I too appreciate your blog as recently I went into a downward slide. Updating house, spring time yard clean up with mulching, the everyday cleaning/shopping/taxes and multi retesting after my medical episode this past winter. Plus I was trying my hand at writing a Medieval anthology. Well I became overloaded, sat back, got the things that had to be done but had to put the Medieval on the shelf for a week or two. I got everything else pretty much taken of care and now will finish the Medieval--though I missed submitting this time around but will save it for an upcoming one. And then by next wk. I can go back to my WIP The Deaconess Hires a GUnman with a good attitude and hopefully both stories will shine. So reading this blog helped me say I did the right thing and now I'm on a roll again. Your WIP, Noel, sounds delightful so please do finish it and I'll be looking for it.

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    1. Beverly--I'm certain all writers fall into this kind of pattern somewhere along the way. I felt so much better after I wrote this blog--it was almost as though I were preaching to myself. It helped to actually realize when and why these slumps come along.
      I'm sure you will finish that Medieval. I admire authors who can get into other ages and find a story to write. Me? I stick with the Nineteenth Century, with only a smattering in the 20th Century. My goodness, I just realized we're in the 21st Century!

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