Carmen DeSousa

I don't believe in Writer's Block! Why? Because it's no different than walking away from a jigsaw puzzle. Sometimes your brain just needs to reboot. As a teenager, my grandmother and I would spend hours working on the puzzles. Sometimes we'd sit too long, the tiny pieces blurring before our eyes. Then, we'd finally realize we needed to walk away. Get something to eat. Watch one of her soap operas. Funny thing is... The moment we sat back down, our eyes would immediately land on the elusive piece that would lead to more pieces. Writing is similar, as in, sometimes we need to step back. Do something else. My suggestions: Work on the book description. Write a character interview. Work on another book. Or my favorite, READ! I read two to three books a week, even when I'm writing. Not only does it provide an escape from everyday life, it gives my brain a chance to reboot. In no time, my characters will scream out to me to pay attention to t...

I’m not talking about writer’s block. That was a different post . What happens when you know where you’re going … know what scene you want to write next, but just don’t feel like it? Sometimes, things that happen in my personal life twist me up in knots, and I just don’t feel it. Oh, I know I should be writing. I want to write. I just can’t seem to turn off all the distractions and just do it . Well, writing a blog post about your issue is one answer. Posing the question to my writing community is one of the first things I do. Although, usually, I’ll wait for the answer to my dilemma before posting. After all, even though I asked the question that brought you here, I assume you’re here because you also want to know what to do when this happens to you. Of course, if you’re here because you have an answer, please leave it in the comment section. What might work for some, might not work for others, so the more solutions to this dilemma, the better. Okay … so ...

Okay, so if you’re a reader, you might not be laughing, but if you’re an author, I know you must understand this. Without a doubt, I can knock out a first draft of a 70k-word novel in two months. On any given ‘writing’ day, I can type two to three thousand words, and I work five days a week. No … that doesn’t mean my manuscript is ready to publish. Far from it! Editing takes another month. Then there’s the beta readers’ feedback, cover design, marketing decisions… Overall, though, most full-time authors can publish a novel every quarter, if they really want to, if they have an idea. Unless … and here’s the hard part. We have to actually be able to have those productive ‘writing’ days mentioned above. Sadly, I spend so much of my day ‘thinking’ about writing, that I don’t actually write. Yes, part of my day is spent chatting with readers—I love that—and then I do have to spend some time marketing my book. I also run a couple book blogs where I promote up to six book...