My writing has been a process.  I started out slow as Christmas, then I hit my writing stride and started pumping out words, ideas, etc.  Then – I stopped.

Argh!  I’m in my seventh chapter itch or whatever!  It’s not that I want to stop writing and move onto something else, really (though I do have flashes of that), it’s just that I know where I want to go, but I can’t decide how to get there. 

I’m pleased with the bones that I’ve laid down in the previous chapters (it’s a first draft, so its all crap, but the ideas make me happy and I know pretty much what I need to change for my second draft).  The problem lies in what the heck to do next! 

I open up my word document and just stare at it.  I might write a paragraph or two and then it’s like a deer staring into the headlights. 

Der.  No clue what to write.  I’m stizuck.

I guess this is that whole writers block thing, huh?  It’s just frustrating because I know where I want to take it, but the middle of this story is giving me fits!  I’m beginning to get flashes of ideas, so hopefully I’ll start working my way out of it.

So seventh chapter itch or slump or whatever – I’m in it.

It would make me happier if I could make it cool like Marilyn.

So, I just finished the fourth book in the Vampire Academy series.  I loved the range of emotions that I felt throughout it: suspense, tension, fear, happiness, sadness, one of those “holy crap” moments, etc.

Now, is this series without flaw?  No, of course not, but those emotions that the writer leads you to feel make a story great, in my opinon.  I think it’s one of the magical keys to leaving a reader wanting more.

So it got me thinking.  Will my story do that?  I know I don’t want it to be a total rollercoaster where the reader feels drained at the end of it, but will it have those bumps at the right times to hit the reader hard?  I have some things laid out in my head, but I hope that they translate on paper.

So basically, I’m rambling, but it was a reminder of the emotional element I want my readers to feel. :-)