8 Deadly Demons of a Writer

I've been slacking when it comes to my blog lately. I took a break to work on my WIP, which is so close yet so far from being finished. I seem to have hit a wall. Not with the story; I know where that's going. Not with the characters; I love them too. My wall is inside of me. At first I blamed outside forces for my inability to sit down and write. With a large family, both in my home and our extended families, there is always something going on. Always someone who needs a ride, a helping hand, or even a shoulder to cry on. I have no problem being there for them. Of course, not every call is an emergency and if I told them I was busy once in a while they would completely understand. So, I can't blame them, right?

I have been wrestling with finishing this story for a while. I have rewritten it a few times; really trimmed out a lot of fat from it. When I do make myself sit down and write I fall in love again with Brad, Jessica, and even have softened up on Diana. But as soon as I get up to do something else it's so hard to get back to it.

I have been trying to figure it out. Asking myself all the questions I imagine every writer does. Is this story so hard to finish because it's crap? Should I toss the whole thing in the fireplace and start something new?

I always come back with the same answer for myself. If I accept that this is crap and toss it in the fire I will always allow myself to do that when I face a writing challenge. So, now I have to figure out why I am having such a hard time. What's holding me back? What are my inner demons that get in the way of writing. I came up with 7 (well 8 actually, but 7 that I have to overcome). Here there are in no particular order. I will list them today and then spend the next week or so battling them , one by one.

8 Deadly Demons of a Writer

1. Plagiarism - the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work.* This is the one demon I don't worry about, but felt that I couldn't list deadly demons of a writer without at least tossing this ugly beast into the mix.

2. Fear - a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.*

3. Guilt - a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime, wrong, etc., whether real or imagined.*

4. Self Doubt -lack of confidence in the reliability of one's own motives, personality, thought, etc.*

5. Procrastination - to defer action; delay: to procrastinate until an opportunity is lost. *

6. Overwhelming - to load, heap, treat, or address with an overpowering or excessive amount of anything *

7. Quitting - to stop, cease, or discontinue; to stop trying, struggling, or the like; accept or acknowledge defeat.*

8. Self Sabotage - any underhand interference with production, work, etc. *

Over the next week or so I will talk about how these 7 demons affect my writing. Like I said, #1 Demon: Plagiarism is pretty easy to battle; you just avoid it. If you feel it is creeping up on you, keep it bay with something as simple as an asterisk (*) followed by a footnote like this...

*All definitions used above came from Dictionary.com, a service of Ask.com.

It may not be accepted APA or MLA styles of citing material but it tells the reader: this is where I found the info. You can find it there too. In other words, it does the trick.

This is a personal battle for me, but I hope that you come along. If you are dealing with similar demons in your writing, or any aspect of life, leave a comment. If you feel I have missed some important demons please tell me and I will talk about them too.

Thanks,

Kristin : )