Temporary? Insanity

So I’m very much in writing mode at the moment. I’m struggling with rewrites and getting dizzy from doing loop-de-loops on this massive learning curve I’ve been swept up by. I’ve been trying various techniques to get into the right headspace. Music and meditation. Staring at the computer screen and hoping something good will happen. Hitting said computer screen repeatedly with my head. And reading good books.

I have an enormous stack of books on my nightstand at the moment, all courtesy of the lovely Eowyn who takes Bibliophilia to new heights, in my opinion.

Anyway, the thinking was that I’d read some fabulous books and they’d rub off on me a bit. I’d sit down to write and bam! Fabulousness would pour forth!

Problem is that the first book I chose was Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson and I didn’t learn a single fabulous technique from it. I was a bit miffed, I’ll admit, but I was also awestruck. The reason I didn’t learn any techniques was because I couldn’t perceive any. At all.

This has struck me rather hard because since I began the rewrites on my work in progress every book I read ends up being picked apart in some way. Mistborn, for me, is unpickable. It is flawlessly crafted, and I’m kicking myself for encouraging my husband to read it because even though it didn’t help my writing at all, I simply cannot wait to read it again.

There’s a sequel out there but I’m not so eager to read it as I thought I would be. I’m too keen to read the first one over again to give the second one much thought.

I could go on and on about various aspects of the story. I loved this, I loved that, blah blah blah…but I can’t think of higher praise than what I’ve already given.

Neil is in the bathtub reading it right this moment, and suddenly, I think I hear snores. My inclination isn’t to wake my husband so he doesn’t get a crick in the neck, it’s to tip toe into the bathroom and steal the darn book before he wakes up again.

Tell me, is there a support group for this sort of problem?