Thursday, July 21, 2011

I Have a Headache, and Other Things That Get in the Way

Pretty much the only thing that is absolutely guaranteed to keep me from writing is a headache. Not just a niggler, but something that's at least a 4 on the 1-10 scale. I suppose it's the combined force of staring at the backlit computer screen, thinking too hard, and hunching my shoulders that makes it so unbearable.

I could say that I've had a headache for the past week, but that would only be partially true. I have had a headache for at least the past four or five days, but it's not been so debilitating. Coffee, Claritin, and Excedrin Migraine seem to keep it well enough in check (allergies, I guess).

So even though I was all chomping at the bit to start writing again once I had my life straightened out, I wrote 1600 words one night and promptly stopped it. I moped around a couple days, then started playing some more Dragon Age II hardcore, then decided I'd start a new game in Dragon Age: Origins to play simultaneously since the story and romance options are better in it and that's all anyone cares about anyway...and those of you who don't play video games are gone now. Sorry about that.

Here's a note: playing 8+ hours of Dragon Age and then watching 2 episodes of True Blood back-to-back will give you some odd dreams.

A thought: Joe Manganiello is one of the best-looking men on television. And his last name is hard to spell.

Here's a secret, and judge me as I judge you: I've always secretly snickered when people talked about their characters talking to them. I've always owned my characters. They do what I want them to do, and there's not much room for compromise. Until today, when a very strong female voice started narrating her opening chapter. It's not new--it's actually a premise I came up with two years ago and did nothing with. But damn, she was really going, and that voice was intoxicating.

So my headache is gone.

13 comments:

Sara {Rhapsody and Chaos} said...

Excedrin Migraine is the BOMB. I use it for all my regular headaches. And then I have actual migraine medication for when I get one of those...

Lol about the characters talking to us. That happened to me for the first time with my current WIP as well :)

Shain Brown said...

Let me tell you something. The project I am working on now has been the most difficult of anything I have written to date.

There are... well let's just say everyone who knows I write is aware of how difficult this character is. She does what she wants, when she wants, and she has even refused to follow my outline.

Frustrating. But after three-fourths of the way through we finally have developed a working relationship, though she wins most of the time.

Linda G. said...

My characters talking to me? That's just silly. They talk to each other. I just eavesdrop. ;)

Glad your headache went away! :)

Sarah Ahiers said...

Hah! i loved this post! And yes, i agree with you on the characters talking bit. I've still never had a single one talk to me and that's just fine.
At some point we'll really have to get to dragon age. Just have to finish red dead redemption and LA Noire first...

Old Kitty said...

They're alive and they live and they know exactly what they want you to write!! Be afraid, be very afraid!

LOL!! Awwwww Summer - so glad that your headache is gone!! Yay for your intoxicating character!!! Now run with her and everyone else and take care! xx

kah said...

Ahh-ha! See, now she's never gonna shut up. Welcome to the dark side. ;)

I'm glad your headache is gone. They suck.

penandpaints said...

What a great character, she's a headache cure! Glad you're feeling better, headaches are rubbish!
As for playing games, I love 'Thief' (all of them) and can't get around to playing anything else! :/

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

So it's better to hear voices?
And I don't think I could play Dragon Age for that many hours. Not in a row anyway.

Shelley Sly said...

As a chronic migraine sufferer, I feel your pain. I take Excedrin Migraine nearly every day for light to medium headaches. Just found a new neurologist, so hopefully he can prescribe me something to prevent it.

Anyway, I haven't played the Dragon Age series, but I'm pretty sure my husband has. I'll have to pick it up sometime.

Hannah said...

I don't ever hear character voices, BUT I most def hear The Picard when I've been slacking. He goes into some long, well-thought out speech about how I should get to writing. Crazy Picard.

I has the headaches too. 7 more days...

David Macaulay said...

a headache sure kills creativity - especially when my job's writing it's hard to make progress..

Lola Sharp said...

A headache, even a minor niggling annoying one, sucks. You know I love Exedrin Migraine. I swear by the stuff. (and I'm glad yours is gone)

And, since we've talked about most of the things in this post...
A thought: you better get writing, I want more R!

Love,
Lola

Jessica Lemmon said...

Thanks for the Excedrin Migraine tip!!!

I get these headaches that I call "skull-crushers" at the base of my neck from hunching over the computer or sitting in a stupid position for a really long time. It does prevent me from writing, sadly. If I'd do my P90X "stretch X" more often, I'd probably have it licked.

And yes, my characters talk to me. In fact, they WAKE me up. They nudge me out of my sleep to tell me the great line they just thought of... at 3 a.m.!