The Tyger's Den

Storyteller’s Howl: Perils Of Writer’s Block

2012-05-18T18:44:14Z

To someone who fancies themselves a professional writer, there’s nothing worse than writer’s block. Except perhaps total creativity block – which I struggled with for some time. Now, though, it seems to be flat writer’s block. I have ideas, I have things I want to do, but when I sit down to write them the words just don’t flow.

It’s almost worse when the words DO flow, only for me to get interrupted by one thing or another. Annoying things like eating, and going to the bathroom, little biological necessities like drinking water and making sure I’m not passing out at the keyboard. It’s so inconvenient to be a living being, sometimes. But in all honesty, more often than not the distractions are my own issue. I need to research something, so I pull up the internet, do some research – and then it’s 2 hours later because I got distracted following a link trail and forgot what I was doing. When I get back to my word document, usually, the inspiration has passed and I’ve forgotten where I was going with the scene.

…I just did that in the middle of writing this blog. I paged off to talk to my best friend about a dream she had, and came back to have forgotten where I was going with this…

OH! Now I remember. It doesn’t help that my old standby for helping me write – listening to music – isn’t something I can DO for the majority of the day. I can’t have my headphones on while I need to be answering the phone for work because I don’t hear it ring and get to it fast enough when I do. So I don’t have musical inspiration for artwork or writing…and when I get to the time of day after work when I can have headphones on, there are other things I need to be doing – commitments to other people, even – that I need to take care of. For instance, tonight we have our weekly raid. I’m the main tank. If I get struck with inspiration mid-Raid, I can’t stop to page over and type a few paragraphs in word…Not unless I want the party to wipe. Which I don’t.

Sometimes the inspiration for a short story is enough to let me push past the need for musical inspiration…in which case you get short little fanfictions, like the WoW ones I’ve written recently. But lately I’m a little stuck. I need to be rewriting Tigerwolf – I KNOW that. But I can’t seem to make myself work on it. I need to be figuring out a sequel to To The Third Power – I know that, but I can’t seem to figure out a good villain or a plot. I need to be working on original fiction, not fanfiction…but I have no inspiration.

And thus are the perils of writer’s block…in some cases, it’s even worse than writer’s flood (the feeling of having TOO MANY good ideas, to the point that your brain gets overwhelmed and you can’t write), because at least when I’m suffering from that, I KNOW what I want to write, and it’s just a matter of parring down my brain until I can get an individual story down on paper. But when there’s writer’s BLOCK…nothing’s coming, nothing’s there. There’s the drive and the knowledge that I need to be doing something…but an utter inability to do so.

To put it mildly…there’s an overabundance of frustration. And as of right now, I can’t seem to get away from it.

Diversity of Law

2012-05-18T18:02:59Z

Sometimes, I’m finding in my research, it helps for a law firm to specialize. I’ve touted the advantages of spreading out into different areas of law before, but I’m finding that specialization can be JUST as lucrative. For instance, Criminal Lawyer Polk County specializes in DUI cases. It makes me wonder if there’s just a plethora of DUI situations in Polk County – or if, perhaps, in that area people are more likely to take those situations to court. One thing’s for sure – specialization in law firms can actually be more of an asset than I originally thought…It’s just a matter of knowing that there will be plenty of cases to keep the firm afloat. Obviously, Criminal Lawyer Polk County is doing something right!

My Dad Is A Fisherman’s Fisherman

2012-05-18T17:55:47Z

That is to say, he’s a man who loves fishing. Always has. He’ll sit for hours, casting over and over into a still lake, never catch anything, and still feel that he had a very worthwhile day. I, on the other hand, got bored every time I went with him. >.< I feel really bad in all honesty for that. I realize now that I’m a bit ADD – I can’t do one thing at a time very well – I like having something to look over at, something to think about. But maybe if, instead of standing at a lake, my dad and I had lived somewhere near a company like Lake Michigan Fishing Charters where we could’ve gone out onto a lake and fished from a boat (somewhere where I couldn’t wander away to explore the surrounding park ), I would’ve learned to love fishing. Honestly, I DO enjoy it…it’s just tedious and I don’t have my father’s patience. Some time in the future I should get him to go with me to a company like Lake Michigan Fishing Charters and give fishing another try.

More Legalese

2012-05-18T17:47:58Z

Legalese has always struck me as a very amusing word. I don’t really know why – it’s important. A massive part of our society is founded on the people who know and understand the terminology of the legal world. Any time you need help, someone like Brooklyn Accident Lawyer can be invaluable in your life continuing the way you want it to. Now I’ve been in several accidents over the years – none of which I was driving for. However, just because none of those situations have ever gone to court doesn’t mean that I’ll never end up in a situation where something WILL. In which case, having someone like Brooklyn Accident Lawyer, who understands legalese, will come in VERY handy.

Doesn’t stop the word from looking amusing every time I type it, though.

I’ve Never Been To A Dentist…

2012-05-18T17:44:01Z

Weird thing to randomly admit in a blog, huh? But it’s true. I’ve never actually seen a dentist. Thankfully, I seem to have inherited my father’s teeth instead of my mother’s – my mom has had constant dental work her whole life, even recently. Even now, the thought of going to a dentist, even one like Dentist Rapid City, makes me incredibly nervous. As I’ve realized recently – I have a tendency to avoid anything that can possibly end up hurting me…Even if it comes out worse in the end for having done it. I’m getting older, though – next year I’ll be 30. I should probably get over this fear and go see someone like Dentist Rapid City, even though that particular one is nowhere near me. If for no other reason than to have the experience. I’m tired of my life being ruled by fear.

More Research

2012-05-18T17:39:14Z

My stumbling around on the internet keeps yielding interesting results. I’m starting to notice a pattern in different firm’s websites. Doing legal research for the company I work for is only part of the reason I keep finding these interesting things. Today, I found Criminal Lawyer Charleston, while looking through different sites where you can contact lawyers to receive advice or just get an idea of what you’re looking at when you need legal help. In this case, the same firm specializes in both domestic violence cases…and speeding tickets. Kind of diverse, huh? But Criminal Lawyer Charleston looks to have at least a quick turn around time for questions being answered. Onward to more research!

Storyteller’s Howl: Procrastinate Now! Don’t Put It Off!

2012-05-16T04:31:25Z

The subtitle of this blog is subject to change. But I realized recently that I really need a sub title for my writing posts. And while this one is about writing, it’s also about NOT writing…only appropriate, since it was inspired by another writer.

A blog by well known writer, Devon Monk, recently spoke about the writer’s best friend and worst enemy – procrastination.

Now, I’ve been writing and working with writers for many years, and I can tell you this is pretty universal. All writers procrastinate to varying degrees. I’m quite guilty of this myself, unfortunately – in fact, I’m procrastinating right now, blogging instead of working on putting together my marketing letters for the week.

The things we tell ourselves when we procrastinate seem fairly universal, though. “Oh, I’m just not in the mood to write/work/whatever right now. I’ll come back to it later when I feel more focused.” The only issue is that, honestly…there’s never a later. Or at least, there’s never that “perfect ‘later’” that we’re all looking for.

“Oh, I’ll rewrite that chapter later, when I have more time.” But life doesn’t get put on hold for work – and work shouldn’t get put on hold for life. Honestly, they’re part of the same thing. And if we’re constantly waiting for later, we become trapped in the procrastination loop that ends with our never accomplishing anything because we’re always waiting for that perfect “later.”

So if I feel like this, why am I writing a blog about procrastination – which I have just admitted to being a way OF procrastinating? Well…Because I was supposed to blog today, and this is as good of a topic as any. While I’m putting off my targeted marketing letters, I’m NOT putting off everything. While I’m writing this blog I have several things running on my computer, I’m drinking coffee (more essential to my every day life than you’d think), and I keep absently straightening my desk. I’m also on call to answer the phone, and waiting for the review board to come together to continue working on the final copy review of my boss’s book, Buh Bye, MS.

So while I’m procrastinating from one thing (and something I don’t really enjoy doing anyway), I’m working on other things. Notice something though – all of these things, with the exception of the blog, are work related! Yes, I am still working! I am still accomplishing things, even as I allow myself a little distraction.

The real problem lies, in all honesty, when it comes down to personal stuff. I have trouble finding time to do little things like straighten my desk. Or reshelve my books…I’ve been telling myself for months that I need to go through my bookshelf and decide what I’m getting rid of so I’ll have more room. I need to reorganize all the drawers at my home desk. It took gaining a new possession and not having anywhere to put it that pushed me over the edge of cleaning a certain part of my area…and it took less than 15 minutes once I got started. Fifteen minutes! And I’d put it off for MONTHS.

Procrastination is bad. It really is.But the lure of it is so seductive that people can’t help but do it. And it’s even more seductive for people who work from home. Because then you don’t have the separation of your work and home environments to encourage you to work past your procrastination and actually get things done. In my free time, I fancy myself a writer. I can’t remember the last time I wrote something that wasn’t fanfiction of some sort…Well, no, I’m lying. I wrote and completed an original novel for NaNoWriMo 2009, but I think that was the last time I worked on something not based on someone else’s work.

I also enjoy making art – both digital and traditional. But like pretty much everything else personal I try to work on, I either put it off waiting for “the muse” to strike…or I get so wrapped up and involved in it that everything ELSE falls by the wayside. Which is not good when one is trying to earn a living. Not to mention that it can lead to me going several days barely eating and then wondering why I’m so tired all the time.

I guess the point I’m trying to get to is that I need to learn how to balance things without procrastinating. And yes, I’ve tried schedules and time periods set aside for specific things. I have a bad habit of sticking to the schedule for a week (two, three at most), and then losing EVERYTHING in a couple of do-nothing days of non-productivity. At which point I start to feel overwhelmed when I finally “come back” to myself from wherever I went (usually into a game, or a movie…or perhaps a sickness like a cold), and see all the things I DIDN’T get done when I was supposed to get them done – all of which still need to be done NOW. And it’s like something in me snaps, and I just…I can’t. And I’ll find every excuse in the world to put these things off.

I should take out the trash – oh, wait, I’m going to eat dinner in a few hours. I should wait and see if anything gets thrown away from that so I can take it all out at once. After dinner, though, now it’s too dark to take the trash out. I’ll wait until tomorrow morning. The next morning it’s too early, what if my taking the trash out upsets the neighbors? I should wait until afternoon- and so the cycle goes, day in and day out. Until I’ve procrastinated to the point that what should’ve been a simple, 5 minute chore, is now a half hour ordeal as I pick up all the things that fall OUT of the very full trash can while I try to empty it, and end up crawling around on the floor to get the last of it. Now I’ve hurt my knees and my back and man, see, this is why I don’t take the trash out regularly anyway….Yeah. It’s a seriously vicious cycle, and the trash is only one of the things in my life that I have a bad habit of doing that with.

I’m always finding “reasons” to put things off until later. And then later there’s always a reason to put it off even later…And so on and so on. So I figure it’s time to take a new approach. From now on, the only thing I am going to procrastinate about is procrastination itself!

At least until I can think of some other reason to put something off.

Yeah. Bad habits die hard.

The Things We Find On The Internet…

2012-05-15T16:13:50Z

Did you know that there’s an FDA approved way to grow out “inadequate” eyelashes? Neither did I. Sometimes I like playing with StumbleUpon, and you really do find the absolute strangest things sometimes. I found this site this morning while randomly clicking my little SU button. Seems that Latisse Coupons takes care of just that little problem you might not have known you had. Just another interesting find in the world of the internet!

Tooth & Arrows: Kalitri, Destroyer’s End

2012-05-13T05:59:48Z

This last Friday, I completed a current content regular difficulty 10-man Raid in WoW for the very first time. I wasn’t DPS, you know I don’t heal – that’s right. Not only did I complete the raid (in five hours, with Lona, Nyx, Kata, and our friend Zach by my side), but I TANKED it.

I could go on and on about how it was, I could exult over having done it – and I AM very excited that I did. But I think it’d be more interesting to see it from the perspective of the character who did it.

I give you Kalitri – a Worgen Druid. And she now proudly carries the title…

Destroyer’s End *

(*Contains spoilers for the Dragon Soul raid bosses and key events within the Raid.)

And To Continue

2012-05-11T17:25:51Z

Oh, even more of what I was talking about in the last post, but this time in New Orleans. Honestly, I remember Katrina, and it doesn’t actually shock me that this kind of specialty has cropped up. But still, the thought of what it means that there’s actually Toxic Attorney New Orleans who I’m pretty sure before Katrina would’ve had some other kind of specialty. Though given the state of the world and the state of law, I wonder if the fact that they also specialize in being a Mesothelioma Attorney New Orleans is related. Though I admit I don’t really know what Mesothelioma is. Maybe I should look that up next.