Ramblings of a Scatterbrained Writer

Many a time I have been told by readers that I am the Devil, if I was in the Star Wars universe I would be a Sith, that what I do to my characters is the equivalent of kicking puppies, and many similar phrases.  I have gained a reputation for putting my characters through the wringer--especially my favorite characters.  Despite this, I adore the thought of eventually giving a happily ever after as a reward for all that the characters have endured.  Some of my more seasoned readers might disagree, but it is true.  In a way, I like to make my characters work for their happily ever after. Here's the kicker. What do you do when your characters have suffered so much, sacrificed so much, everyone has been screaming for them to get a happy ending since, oh, the second book?  The first half of the first book?  You originally intended to reward them in the end, you want to reward them, they've earned it, you want them to escape the bad and finally settle down f...

 Wanting to write but not being able to just...do it. So many times I've had the overwhelming urge to write, and after racing to my laptop and powering up Scrivener to write, the blank white sheet in front of me, blinking cursor, and...I suddenly lost all sense of focus and can't even get myself to type a single word. This seems to be a problem plaguing me left and right, recently.  No matter what I'm writing, be it fan fiction, a paper for one of my classes, a blog post--anything--I can't get myself to focus once I'm actually at the point of writing, no matter how much I wanted to do it previously.  When I was thirteen, I sat down and wrote a 358 page novel and edited it all by myself in less than a year.  Now, I struggle to write a goal of 2000 words in a chapter when I find the time and motivation to write.  It's not for a lack of vision, either--I know what I want to write, I know how I want events to unfold, it's simply the act of putting the words ...