NaNoWriMo: The Curse of Being Prolific
I’m delighted to welcome Elle Amberley to the Write Now! Coach Blog. Elle is a super-prolific author who writes in both French and English. Enjoy!
The Curse of Being Prolific by Elle Amberley
Writer’s block? What’s that?
I often hear about the dreadful writer’s block, sounds horrible. I always fear of it landing on me and enveloping me in its gloom. Yet, it’s never happened to me.
On the contrary, I seem to have been blessed, or cursed, with an overactive brain. I say blessed because of course I absolutely love writing and crafting new stories.
So, why would it be a curse, I hear you ask.
Well, imagine, it’s the middle of the night, the whole house is finally quiet and you’re lying there, tired to the bone, desperate to shut your eyes and go to sleep. And yet, you can’t, that mind of yours keeps wandering through the night, opening more and more doors.
That’s me I’m talking about by the way. My long suffering husband will at some point sigh, switch the light back on and pass me pen, paper and my Mac, if that particular night is very productive.
Truth is I have far too many ideas, files full of them for my next projects. Maybe this is one of the reasons I now have two pen names, because no publisher can keep up with this flow.
I always have several novels on the go and switch from one to the other as inspiration strikes or as publishing constraints demand. And maybe this is the secret, I never get a chance to get bored with one project. It also keeps my writing fresh, to me anyway. The only problem is I’m over-stimulated.
To make things worse I also started writing in French, which is rather bizarre but there you go, I never do things the way I’m expected to. Writing in French happened by accident or rather following a trauma. I felt such grief but was unable to express it and writing in another language unlocked these emotions I had kept hidden. It has also helped me developing as a writer.
As for NaNo, I wish you all good luck. Last Christmas I did my own NaNo in one week. 70,000 words to be precise. This is how I like my first drafts, fast and furious. Once I have an idea in that thick brain of mine, I’m gone, nothing can stop me, not even the flu. In fact, I could say I was in a trance.
About the Author. Please visit my website Elle Amberley Author to find out more about me and don’t hesitate to drop me a line. I’m always very happy to hear from readers or fellow writers. You’re very welcome to follow me on Elle Amberley Twitter and Elle Amberley Facebook where you will find updates and details of book signings.
Thank you for sharing with us… I fear the same thing.. but so far I have been blessed too.
Thank you for having me here, it was a pleasure. Wishing everybody much success with their writing.
Elle
Fast and furious … I think I used to write like that, when I was writing in a notebook, sitting in my favorite arm chair, page after page after page. My thoughts were fluid, my handwiting smooth, legible, and abundant, for hours and hours.
Since developing a tremor, my handwriting has become more jerky, less fluid. I am more legible when I type (though tremors cause many errors on a keyboard, too.)
I find my writing less expressive, less sensitive, and more factual in type rather than in cursive penmanship. Have others experienced this?
I think that’s true for a lot of people–hand written words come from a deeper place. But I wonder–with time, will the typed writing be just as expressive and sensitive? On another note, I think that those of us who use a computer all of the time (like me) find writing by hand to be kind of tiring. Our muscles have gotten weak!