IWSG 25- The Writer Blahs

It's June, my birthday month!!!! Aside from celebrating another year of life, it's also means it's time for another IWSG blog post.


Last month I talked about having to pull things together since I was venturing into the world of querying. I managed to get projects submitted, one still needs a synopsis, but then the blahs hit.

I call them the blahs because it's not the same thing (to me) as having writer's block. I'm not stuck on a story, I have a few WIPs as we speak. The characters are actually still whispering about their stories. I simply have no love or desire to work on any of them. At all. Not even a little bit.

It's a sad and frustrating feeling because the year started off strong for me. I had been so excited. And little by little that excitement died off and I was left with the 'I just need to get it done' feeling so I would push through, but there was never any pride of accomplishment attached.

I've completely fallen out of love with one of my projects. The one I mentioned still needs a synopsis so it can go off to it's final query destination. I have zero desire to complete it or really do much of anything with it. I know people say let it sit, you'll get that feeling back, but not the case this time.

There are days I think I want to write. I'll open one of my docs and then I end up looking like the picture above. Because of the blahs, I've gone on a bit of a WIP hiatus. I say WIP and not writing as a whole due to the fact I'm part of a daily writing challenge that needs at least 100 words per day. Some days I barely get the 100, but so far, so good on at least keeping up with that.

I hope this slump passes soon. I'm not sure why I slipped into it. Until then I'm trying to find other things to occupy my time. It's summer so plenty of activities with the boys. I have plenty of books on my device and I've gone back to playing The Sims as a way to unwind.

I want the enthusiasm I had at the beginning of the year to return. I want the drive and productivity, the motivation all back. Until then, I'll sit and stare at the words on screen and mosey along as I have been for the last few weeks.

Have you ever lost your total love for a project? If so, what did you do to pull yourself out of that feeling?

This month's optional question: What's harder for you to come up with, book titles or character names?

I'm gonna say names. The titles for all my projects have come to me fairly quickly and without a whole lot of decision making. Picking names is a different story. When I wrote Fiendish, I realized at the end I a lot of 'M' names for the small cast of characters. Now I make an effort not to use 'M' so I don't fall into that trap.

There's also the issue of not having names that rhyme or that are too similar in sound like Casey and Cassie. I want to have unique names, but don't want them to be too out there. Then I have to stay away from my no list of names, the ones I won't use under any circumstance because they may have some personal connection, like my kids' names for instance. I write adult romance, can't have my leads using names of the offspring, that would be too weird. 

Book titles are definitely way easier for me. The definition of fiendish fit Seth, my lead in that story as well as the story line as a whole. Not Broken conveyed the message that while Calida went through hell, it didn't break her and she found a way to heal. My novelette was about two neighbors 'getting to know each other', the title Being Neighborly fit and was a fun play on the term considering the theme of the story. See all easy-peasy and nothing super fancy. 

This is a blog hop, so be sure to see how the other participants answered this month's question.

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group is a home for writers in all stages; from unpublished to bestsellers. Our goal is to offer assistance and guidance. We want to help writers overcome their insecurities, and by offering encouragement we are creating a community of support.

Thank you to this month's co-host!  Beverly Stowe McClure, Tyrean Martinson, Tonja Drecker, and Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor!

Until next time,

~Meka