The Writing Life

I am so sorry that it took me forever to get back to you ladies. Life has been busy with a little one at home and working full time.

Anyway, I went for my Master's at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA. They have a distance learning program where you go for two one week periods a year, and other than that you're working with critique partners and a mentor online throughout the year. It took me two years, though I've heard of others staying longer if they needed to. There is such a wonderful variety of writers there, but it is primarily for fiction writing, which is why I chose it.

The novel I wrote is a supernatural thriller that could also be considered for young adult audiences since one of my main characters is 18.

The short story I'm trying to write (but keep drifting away from) is about an infant being taken from the mother's home in the middle of the night by someone who thinks the baby holds the secret to living forever. It's going very slowly.

I'm once again having trouble keeping up on my writing. I tell myself when work is slow I will write, but instead I come on iVillage or go to Facebook or do online shopping. I don't know why I struggle to stay with it so much!

It's OK, Amanda. We understand the time robbers who inhabit the earth. They pick on all of us.

That program at Seton Hill sounds marvelous. Methinks some students who stay longer than two years may do so because they enjoy it so much. ;-)

Your novel sounds good. What this world needs is more YA supernatural thrillers. I mean that!

Sounds as if you are inventorying the excuses for not working on the new novel. (Aren't most of us?) It wouldn't have anything to do with an infant being kidnapped, would it? Sometimes stories that are close to home are easy to write. Sometimes they're torture. If your current story is too much of a struggle, there might be a reason for it. Maybe you should put it away in a drawer until you're ready to see it through to the end. Just don't forget about it! It sounds too good to be left in the back of a drawer.

JudyB

I'm sure you have plenty of ideas for your story. You're more than capable of sorting them out. It's your lack of motivation that seems to be the problem.

Have you tried giving yourself a deadline for a first draft? I don't mean a floating deadline you can change because you'd rather go shopping. I mean one etched in stone. Give yourself a reward for making the deadline (although finishing the draft may be reward enough). Punish yourself for missing it. No chocolate for a whole week!

I'm going to try this myself next week. Let's compare notes soon.

JudyB