Well, this has been an interesting round. Life has dealt my family and me a few blows, but we keep coming back fighting. How has this affected my writing? It’s really made it hard to write, to be honest. I’ve felt so emotionally drained for the past few months, which also makes me feel drained physically. But I keep trudging on with most things. Just not so much the writing. It doesn’t help that I have a complicated plot, and I’m trying to figure out how to tell the back story. Which is really a story within itself.
I’m not going to take time off from writing between rounds. I’ve had enough time off. And due to the financial situation we’re facing with my husband’s pay dropping, I’ve got to produce more work. Book sales are in the toilet right now (I’m lucky to make $100 a month lately), and I know I’ve got to produce LOTS of work to make any decent money. I know I can’t make enough to live on right now because the market is glutted with self-published books, but I would like to make enough to have a good supplement to our income. So it’s time to stop whining about my plot or how little time I have and start getting to work like this is a real job. You know, like I USED to.
How was YOUR round this time?
lauralynnelliott.com 
You sound motivated. Great! Maybe you should let the backstory go for now and spruce up what you need to after you have a complete draft. Your subconscious will probably surprise you and more of it will be there than you think. If it’s a deep backstory, you could always write it in its own as a short and publish it. I plan to do that with a couple of back stories behind my Foulweather Twins.
I do feel motivated right now. I hope it continues.
Here’s the thing…the story won’t really make sense without the backstory. It could be done with flashbacks, but I’m not a big fan of those. They have to be done well, or they are confusing.The things that are happening are because of the backstory of the town itself. I might be able to get it done with some different POVs.
Oh, and another option is to tell the story through dialogue in the end or close to the end.
I’ve yet to do Row80.
Good luck with the writing.
Thanks, Emma. It’s a great group of people.
That’s kind of where I am on the sales right now as well. 😦 But I do have two novels with first readers. So if I ever get those back, *g* I can find editors and have a couple of new books published by the end of the year!
I need to up my production somehow too, though. Maybe we should start a club? 🙂
You did great, Lauralynn, with all that was going on for you this round!
I could up my production by quitting my full time job, but then I would have to eat beans and sell my car. LOL. I do need to be more disciplined about writing. No excuses.
Thanks, it’s been a tough few months, but things will get better.
I don’t know if this will do any good but what about putting this story on hold and working on something else? Maybe while you are doing that, the backstory will come to you and you’ll have it ready for when you get back to it.
On another note, I’m sorry to hear about the loss in income. 😦
I don’t know, Ruth. I really don’t have anything else in the works, and I want to get this done. The problem with backstory is that if you’re not careful, you can do a big info dump that everyone says is a no no. It could probably be done with dialogue. But there’s a whole bunch of stuff that leads up to why things are happening. If I let the readers know little by little by using the POV of some of the “culprits”, it might work. I think I’m going to start typing and let the ideas flow. All this trying to plot is giving me a headache. Maybe I should just do things the way I’ve always done best.
Yeah, that sucks. I’ve got another idea of how to make a little extra income, but I don’t know if I want to take the plunge or not. LOL. I might post about it and see what people think.
Lauralynn I hope your situation improves soon. I joined ROW80 late in the round but enjoyed the accountability. I am getting pretty far into my YA WIP.
Thanks, Joe! I really love ROW80. I’ve been a part of it from the beginning. Good luck with your WIP. I hope we’ll see you again next round.
Lauralynn, you’ve done really well to get any writing done with all that’s been happening. I understand, as life got in the way this round for me, though not as dramatically. Anyway, I hope things improve for you and you can get more income soon.
Thanks, Pam. Life gets in the way for all of us at one time or another. I like that Kait says ROW80 is for people who have a life. No one judges if we lag behind. But we’re all ready to cheer each other on, no matter what’s going on.
I have been at that point myself a couple of times – where you are just too drained from everything else going on to write. I hope the next round is better for you, and that things in your life get a little less stressful!
I think things are getting better all around. I wrote about 1400 words last night…the first time in over a month.
It sounds as if you need some time out to refill your well. It’s been a tough time for you. Sometimes it seems counterproductive to stop doing what the logical, rational part of you thinks you NEED to be doing to get where you want to be, but I wonder if having some downtime and quieting the thinking might help you resource yourself AND find a renewed sense of direction? (This is something I’m going to try myself…)
I wish you all the very best, Lauralynn. See you in Round 3!
Thanks, Lisa, things are going a little better now. I think Round 3 is going to be so much better for me!