I’m in a huge writing slump right now. And reading slump. Huge.
<navel gazing>
I’m trying to figure out what’s going on with my writing slump. Possible Causes:
- It’s really hot. Seriously, really hot.
- I broke up with goodreads. (Not under my Evie account. Evie’s still there and present and etc) I spent a lot of time on goodreads, interacted with many people, and found many books. Unfortunately, it had to stop. It made me unhappy. In the interest of my continuation in the genre, I had to stop being a part of it.
- I have been growing increasingly upset with how women are discussed by government, treated in society, represented in media, etc. As this discontent grows, I question my writing focus. Mainly I write m/m, however I do also write other characters under another pseudonym. The reason I write m/m is because men get to have certain freedom in society and in social situations. They also have by default a certain degree of social power that let’s me explore a wider range of relationships and movement in society. The problem here is that I’m now part of the problem rather than a solution. Basically, because I don’t like how women are portrayed in literature, I’m going to write about men. On one hand, I’m totally okay with that. But on the other hand, I’m not helping to improve the portrayal of women in fiction.
Effects:
- I’m not writing
- I’m not reading. I read a little, but it’s trickled to a stop. I was a voracious reader.
- I’m not talking to anyone online.
- I’ve started quilting and cross stitching to fill my time.
Basically, my creativity has shifted from creating to executing someone else’s creations. Which I have ridiculous amounts of time to do because I’m not reading and I’m not writing.
</navel gazing>
Any better? Come on–snap out of it (she says, not unkindly)!
I was lurking around on your blog getting ideas for my own blog and I happened along this. I just had to say something, especially with your third point for possible causes of your writing slump.
I do agree that men do hold some degree of power within society that women do not have, but I also believe that just within my own lifetime women have been gradually getting to equal footing with me. I don’t think women are on the same par with men, not yet.
What I did find interesting was your reasoning as a female writer writing male characters. I haven’t written many stories where the female is the protagonist, but when I do they are always strong characters. I have to admit, all of them are either fantasy or science fiction related, but I think that’s just because of the genre I like to write.
As a gay man I have read some M/M fiction that just makes me cringe. It is just a male character that acts like a woman. As if all gay men are psychologically feminine. Sure, some gay men are, but it isn’t what I see among my gay friends and it isn’t something that I can relate to. My advice to you is to write what you would like to see. If you want to have a strong female protagonist, than write a story that contains one! Just like I want to write some gay romances that contains protagonists that I would like to see.