Writers Block

If I'd been using a typewriter today rather than a computer,  I would now have a waste basket full of scrumpled up paper.

I've tried so many times to get started it's untrue.  I just can't get the first paragraph down on paper.  All the planning is done, the research is stored and the ideas are flowing so what's wrong with me, why can't I get started on the actual writing.  This block has now lasted two days.  I find so many other things to do rather than sit in front of the computer with a blank word document open in front of me.  So far this week I have wasted hours on Twitter, sorted through old photos making Web Albums to send to my family and have walked the legs off the poor dogs.  In fact the only thing I haven't done is reseed the lawn and that's only because the ground's been frozen.  

So what now, do I put this novel and all the many hours I've spent on research, on a metaphorical shelf and leave it until some far off distant day when I feel more confident about starting it again?  

Should I try and write something new, something easier like Spanish Steps, after all that was fun to write and the mad plot lines and even madder characters just seemed to pop into my head - and not always after consuming large amounts of alcohol!

Or should I have another bash at it and just sit here until the creative juices start flowing again?

Bugger , bugger, bugger.......about the only thing I don't feel guilty about at the moment is that at least I haven't used up half a forest getting precisely nowhere!

Three Versions - Decisions

OK there they are - three versions of the same story - it will always be the same story, it will always be Max's story but how to tell it.

As I've already said I'm not happy with version 1, it just doesn't do it for me.  if I picked a book up with an opening like that I'm not sure that I would bother reading on.

So try again - version 2 (which mightn't have quite come out in the short excerpt below) will have Max 'hearing' Rosie and later his Mother and Sister talking to him. I want the reader to slowly realise that the conversations are only on his head - all the woman he loved are dead but his love for them isn't - he can bring Rosie back when ever he talks to her and later his Mother and Sister will come to him when he is least expecting them - wow might be tricky to write without being mawkish but it could be worth it.

And version 3 is basically version 2 but written in the first person.  Max will be able to tell his story in his own words but I really like the ghost talking aspect in version 2 and would like Max to have the same conversations.

Pros and Cons

Version 1 is a non starter in my book

Version 2 could potentially be easier to write than version 3.  I find wrtiting in the first person tricky, if I'm not careful it could sound more like me rather than Max talking

Version 3 would writing in the first person be too limiting?  I need to be able to show Max as a multi-dimensional character; the frightened young boy in Poland, the angry young man who arrives in Liverpool  swearing that no one will ever hurt him again even if it means he hurts them first, the family man who adores his wife and son, the ruthless business man who won't let anything stop him from making his business succeed and finally the old man who finds to his horror that he is having to relive his past. 

So that's it; first person or third person - I think I need a cup of coffee and time to ponder - any comments will be gratefully recieved.

I'm not happy

I have been looking at what I've written so far and I'm not happy.  It just doesn't look right.  The first paragraph of any story should grab you by the shoulders, look deep into your eyes and shout 'read me'.  This doesn't, it's more like a slap with a wet fish.

I think that it's back to the drawing board.  I might write a variety of openings, written in different styles and then decide which route I want to take.  Maybe you could help and vote for the one you like best, that at least would be democratic, but then again I might be an autocratic and just go with the one I feel happiest with.  

But before I start writing anything I have to clear up the mess the dogs have made of my address book....they have totally shredded the pages and god alone knows where they have hidden the cover!

My desk is a muddle of half chewed paper, files of hand written notes, various street maps of the East End of London, a Tesco voucher, a bottle of clear nail polish, a tatty camera case (the dogs found this as well) and an empty coffee cup.......is it too early to open a bottle of wine?