Decided to Get out of the Mind and Back in the Body — Parched book 7

I bet you wonder what in the world am I talking about.

Well…

I’ve started and deleted the early pages of Parched book 7 twice. The first time it was a hard fought 2k+ words. It took my like a week and half to get that far. The second time, last week, it was 3k+ words deleted.

And of course the reason why I struggled so was because I wasn’t inspired by my own writing. Like, dude, I was boring MYSELF.

You know, I just finished Light Speed and that book is all situated in the body.

What does that mean?

Years ago, I took this seminar at a writing conference and this guy was giving this talk about writing along the lines of the 7 chakras. Well, he equated the chakras to how popular stories are among viewers. After he laid it all out on the table–I totally bought his theory. Totally.

And I know the reason I did not have one difficult moment writing Light Speed after I got past the ALWAYS difficult first chapter is because I kept it in the body. The Core Survival and Sex realm. So core survival is sort of man against death. Fighting to stay alive. Sex is… well… sex, except it’s survival of the species. It’s how we relate to it in our most basic instinct. The lifeblood and Selell must bond sexually for survival of life and their connection.

So. Yeah.

After the second delete, I decided to right from a place of passion, you know. Like, this is one of the major books, which brings forward the main plot so it naturally starts in Clarity’s POV.  So, I knew I had to continue forward from where they last left off. I saw all the characters in that moment. I had to go back and take on her emotions. The sun is gone. They won but they didn’t. There were so many characters, so many brains and hearts I had to be and wanted to get to them all at once. Basically, I found myself writing them in the mind and emotion. Of course, I’m not ready to give those parts of the story away just yet ;-).

The thing is… Book six had taken the series to a whole new level and I didn’t want to spiral down from that.

So, I knew this time when I started, I had to put Baron and Clarity together. I had to remind readers what their bond was all about. Because Adore and Chex are a hard act to follow. So, that led me back to the body. HOWEVER, Baron and Clarity are NOT Adore and Chex, which means, the mind is very dominant in their actions and reactions. If you’ve read the books, then you would know what I mean. I mean… they may want to, but heck, they’ll have to wait until the important things are done first. Because they have to keep their head in the game. This is what they both have in common–still.

Okay… I’m talking/writing too much here.

The thing is… I’ve learned that writer’s block comes when you’re forcing the story to progress. I noticed that it feels different when I’m forcing myself to think of the what next. Or when my characters are interacting and I feel like even with all the talking and walking, they’re getting nowhere slowly. And usually when that happens, there’s a lack of passion on the page and in me.

So not only is the “body” on the page but I’m making sure to write firmly from–well, not the body but the emotion.  I have to feel the passion. I know what that feels like for me. And if I lose it, then I know, I’m forcing it and am veering off course.

Alright. Enough already.

Time to eat some yogurt, get another cup of pu-erh tea watch finish watching the Thursday night lineup: Vampire Diaries, Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and then Project Runway All-stars, which is DVR’d. Then, I’ll spend another hour and a half writing…

Oh, and I don’t post anything before next Thursday, Have a Lovely Thanksgiving!