Ping-Pong Balls

Writer's Block. It hits every writer in one way or the other. Just last week I read on another writer's blog about her difficulties linking two scenes. So I know I'm in good company when I stare at my computer going, "What comes next?"

But this month, I've been participating in a program through ACFW called "Novel Track: Writing." I committed myself to meeting a word goal for the month and now I have no choice but to push through writer's block and not allow it to stop me for days at a time. "Must put words on paper" has become my mantra. This has helped a lot. I may hit a wall and need to stop for a while, but I keep thinking about what will happen next. While I run--"If he goes here and sees this person . . . "--while showering--"What if she tells him . . . "--while fixing dinner--"If he reacts by . . . " The next day when I sit down at the computer, I know what happens next. This race to meet a word count forces me not to sit back and wait for the ideas to catch me but to chase them down instead.

And, when I feel really stuck or need more ideas, I bounce ideas of my husband. For some reason, this idea of bouncing ideas off him has created an odd image in my mind. I visualize tossing ping-pong balls at his forehead. Now I've taken that image to imagining the ping-pong balls with questions or ideas written on them. Fortunately, we don't own any ping-pong balls, so my husband's forehead is safe. And sometimes, just the act of imagining the conversation, with ping-pong balls, helps me work through whatever block I'm dealing with.

Reminiscing

Just over a year ago I began the first Sarah Cameron book. Two events pushed me to finally put on paper the story I'd only told myself for so many years.

1. I went to see New Moon with a friend in December of 2009. We were talking before the movie about Stephenie Meyer and how she just started writing Twilight and look what had happened. We both said we had considered writing a book. That conversation motivated me to do more than say I wanted to write a book but to actually try. Now if only I could be as successful as Stephenie Meyer . . .

2. I'd read a few YA fiction books recently and the way they handled certain issues--such as dating, sex, etc--bothered me. From a worldly perspective, these books might have done a good job (though one still leaves me shaking my head), but I just felt that God's perspective on these issues was needed. I'm not saying there aren't already wonderful books by Christian authors dealing with these issues, but there needs to be more. So I started writing.

One year later, I'm still writing. Sarah Cameron is on an editor's desk getting reviewed and criticized so I can improve. I'm working on a new series. Publishing will hopefully come someday in the not so distant future, but either way, I'm having fun!

Never Give Up; Never Surrender!

I’ve chosen a motto for this year. “Never give up; never surrender!” from the movie Galaxy Quest. Whenever I need to strengthen my resolve, this runs through my head. I asked my friends on Facebook for some Bible verses that embodied this phrase. They included Joshua 1:9, Ecclesiastes 9:4, Galatians 6:9 and Revelations 2:10. The one I liked best came from Philippians 3:13: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” 

I get hung up on the past. Past mistakes, past criticisms. I can’t seem to let go, so I want to give up. But, if you want something badly enough, giving up cannot be an option. As this new year begins, I foresee many scary and exciting things on the horizon. A writers’ conference or two, asking people to rip my book to shreds so I can make it better (who volunteers for that?), submitting proposals, finishing new projects, and on and on. Some of these things intimidate me, but over and over again I will recite, “Never give up; never surrender!”