Motivation slump...

Yep, that's exactly what I feel like at the moment. I've been going through a slump where all I want to do is either stay in bed, wrapped in the warm blankets (hey it's Winter here) or just procrastinate which means hours on end playing Facebook games... I can actually waste most of the day with those pointless games.

I can force myself to sit in front of the computer and just stare at the blank page, but that's not going to get my WiP written. One thing I have found that has helped get me out of this motivation slump is throwing myself into an editing course to give me something productive to do. I'm going to go back to my WiP once I'm sure I can productively add to the story.

Have you ever gone through a motivation slump? How did you get out of it?

Ignoring that Inner Voice

Over the last weekend I did something that was probably the most terrifying experience of my life. I entered a Japanese karaoke competition (hey, I don't speak Japanese)... and I was the lucky person to go first. I've gotten up on stage and performed before and had no problem, but just with the prospect of doing something new and unfamiliar and maybe, just maybe, embarrassing the heck out of myself a small voice kept repeating over and over again in my head "run".

As I was sitting around, waiting for the competition to start every inch of me didn't want to be there. The voice kept telling me that "why would I want to get up and humiliate myself" and "why would I want to?" The mere thought of rejection was killing me.

As writers, we've got to learn and accept rejection. If we don't put ourselves out there, and only keep our writing to ourselves then there's no way to grow or learn from the experience. Rejection is one form of growth. If you can get back up after being told NO, then there's no way you'll be able to improve or grow.

When the little voice decided to nag me, there was a couple of things I had to do to give myself the strength to push on:

1. Take a deep breath
2. Tell myself that it's okay to fail - you learn more from mistakes than you do from successes (even though successes feel better)
3. Tell myself that all experiences will help me grow... even if I fall on my butt in front of hundreds of people (lucky there were only 50 in the auditorium)
4. And, picture everyone in their underwear (well, not really... but I've heard this helps some people who have to perform in front of people... I just think it's creepy)

Well, as you can see from the picture, I ended up singing in front of everyone (not perfectly, but I think I was more focused on keeping my legs from collapsing underneath me... I hope they were shaking in time with the music). I didn't win (the winners were one who sang a Japanese song in opera style and one who translated a Linkin Park song into Japanese), but I did learn that I can do anything if I set my mind to it (and, perhaps learning a foreign song in 2 weeks isn't the best strategy for these sort of things).

So, do you have a little voice of doubt and how do you overcome it?

Can you hear it: Selecting the soundtrack

Everyone has their own ideal setting for writing, or just relaxing in general. Some can only work if there is total silence, some need chaos (like that from a coffee shop or busy restaurant) to get the creative juices flowing. What about me? Well, I need some kind of background noise, and usually in the same tempo/genre/mood of what I'm writing.

I've read a lot of authors websites that mention having a soundtrack for the novel, and I've found this technique a very handy tool to get into the right frame of mind for writing, and it's also a fun way to procrastinate think about the story.

For haven, my soundtrack consists of:
1. Down with the Sickness by Disturbed
2. 7 Days to the Wolves by Nightwish
3. Monsters by Matchbook Romance
4. The Curse by Disturbed
5. Rest in Peace by James Masters, aka Spike (see above, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
6. Disturbia by Rhianna
7. It's the Fear by Within Temptation
8. Somebody Help Me by Full Blown Rose
9. Vampires will never hurt You by My Chemical Romance
10. Whisper by Evanescence

So, do you have a soundtrack to the story you're working on (if you don't, then why not)?

P.S. that's my kind of vampire. Spike from Buffy, bad boy all the way, and he's actually coming down under in 2 weeks...

An ode to rejections...

Well, since it's already 4:30 on Thursday here I guess I've missed Wind-down Wednesday (don't feel bad, I'm feeling great because I took my singing and guitar lesson and that really helped relax me).

My guitar teacher is also a collaborator with some original songs that I write. Instead of doing my usual depressing gothic style music (hey, I love that dark and emotional packed music) I chose to write an upbeat, happy song based around what we all know. I thought it would be good to share with you all, it's titled "Jump".

A single voice above the noise,

A single thought of not enough.

That inch of doubt that holds you back,

Are you good or will you fall?

Facing the bumpy road that life reveals.

Jumping all the hurdles, stumbling for a few.

Feeling like the light's switched off,

Fumbling for a match.

You always second guess yourself

Over and over, facing doubt.

Never be afraid. Don't just stand there

When you can jump, jump, jump.

You'll hit the ground running if you jump.

When all you get is pain, and the ground is approaching fast

All you need is one little smile, think about that yes.

Is all the work worth the trouble?

You'll never know if you quit.

Isn't life a bumpy road, never knowing where it leads.

Having your eye on something far, watching the sun slowly set.

Taking the road less travelled isn't that hard,

Taking that chance against all the bets.

You always second guess yourself

Over and over, facing doubt.

Never be afraid. Don't just stand there

When you can jump, jump, jump.

You'll hit the ground running if you jump.

Is it worth the trouble?

Can you see the goal?

Push yourself forward,

Take that chance.

You'll never know

If you don't jump.

It's just a work in progress, and stay tuned because soon there'll be actual music for it (yes, it will even contain my voice singing... oh the horror). Just writing this really helped lift my spirits, so I hope it can do the same for some of you too.