#draftfail?

Sometimes life just gets in the way of writing. This weekend was one of those times.

I had planned on cranking out about three thousand words this Saturday. Know how many I actually wrote? ZERO. Nada. Zilch.

It's not that I was all that busy, but I never had the chance to sit down and write. There were too many distractions, and not enough time to concentrate on my WiP. Too much was going on in my personal sphere and there was just no good time to sit down with Cass and all my new characters.

Here's the thing, though. Yesterday during lunch I did some plotting, and completely changed my idea of how the scene I hadn't written over the weekend ought to go. I decided the way I had it planned was too boring, and now I'm writing something new. I only wrote about three-hundred words yesterday, but I'm feeling more motivated to write towards this new idea.

It makes me wonder: if I'd been able to sit down and write this Saturday, would I have thought of this change sooner? Would the muse have been kick-started into action? Or would I have just written the scene the original way, thinking everything was fine? Would I have written it and not felt like it was boring? Confused yet? ;)

My last post was all about how making yourself sit down and write is better than waiting for inspiration to strike. This week, I'm so not feeling the Butt-In-Chair philosophy, and the guilt is starting to set in, but at least I'm making some progress.

Not sure what the point of this rambling little post is. Maybe that sometimes the muse knows best, and you should listen to her or you might miss the mark like poor Fido up there.

But I do know this: sitting around waiting for her to inspire isn't going to get you through any hoops. Or tires. ;)

Has your muse been A.W.O.L lately? Do you make yourself write when you're not inspired? If so, how? I'd love to hear it.

Turns out there's a guest post over at Michelle McLean's blog today on a similar subject, only written in a much more lucid style than my post. What can I say, I was sleepy this morning. ;) Check it out!

WiP Wednesday: Inspiration Strikes!

This week I decided my manuscript for Evangeline is ready for resubmission to an agent who seems to really get the story. I proofed, double-proofed, and sent it off. There's a part of me that wants to open that file back up and check every word again, as if that might somehow change the copy I sent the agent. Even before I sent it, I was starting to feel antsy, like I'd read and re-read so many times I was just putting in commas and taking them out again (Thanks, Oscar).

I was obsessing over the minor details when I knew the revisions the agent wanted were big picture stuff, and elements I believe I've successfully addressed, but still, the nitpicking and obsessing continued.

All that stopped when I was in the shower the other morning and BAM! an idea just hit me. I had a name, a conflict, and a few key scenes. I still don't know how it ends, but I'm ready to find out.

And just in time, too. It's been a while since I wrote anything new, aside from a few chapters of a sequel to Evangeline to see if I had it in me. I've been so busy this spring with polishing up Evangeline that I haven't let myself think of anything new. I haven't had the time, and I didn't need the distraction.

Now I'm wondering if it's some kind of survival instinct, like my muse knew my brain was way, way, way too busy for a new idea. Especially now that it's hit me with inspiration at the exact moment I needed something to distract me while Evangeline is being reconsidered.

So, thanks, Muse! Glad ya got my back, baby! I owe you a Dr. Pepper. Anyone else want to share a little about how their muse works? Does yours inundate you with new ideas while you're working on something else, or are you and your muse on the same wavelength? Muses can be moody, pesky and irrational, but where would we be without them? Living in caves and not even bothering to draw on the walls, that's where. Oh, and if you're wondering, my new mc's name is Cass. Her mom's a witch, but she's not. And that's all I'm going to say about it right now.

Don't forget to enter my birthday giveaway, which will be open until Wednesday, July 7th.