Confessions: writer's block

As the cool kids say, it's been a minute since I've posted a blog.  I've noticed on facebook that many of my "friends" have started blogs of their own, and I commend them, honestly I do.  It's a lot harder than one would think to post a daily/weekly/bi-weekly blog, especially considering (well for me anyway) that writing is what I breathe for.  So seeing all these "Oh hey here's my new blog" posts is making me realize it's been a month since my last post and I need to jump back on the "bandwagon."  I hope you all stick with it, but I'm a bit of a pessimist, so we'll just see how long that lasts (:

Here recently with all these things happening ALL at once in my life (and the harsh reality that I'm a television junky and find watching stories unfold holds much more immediate gratification than writing one and making it unfold - wow how many dead writers are rolling over in their graves right now????), I've not been writing as much as I want or need to.  I'm halfway through a pretty fantastic manuscript (if I do say so myself?!) and can't seem to get out of the funk I've fallen into to finally finish it and hopefully start in on the 2nd in the series.  I've come to a point where I seem to be stuck.  It all started when I decided to make one of my characters British.  Though I'm a huge fan of British television, humor, and quite frankly life, when faced with the difficult task of being an American-born, American-residing writer trying to dialogue for someone from another country, one from a place I'd never been, I became irritated and flummoxed.  (Do people still use that word?)  I fell to the all-knowing world of the internet, navigated by Google, and came up with the typical, generic, boring, retarded answers to the question, "What's another way that a Brit would say dude or man other than the obvious mate?"  I got chap (really people, really?  I'm writing a 20-something year old male college student here, not a 43-year old global studies professor), ace, bro, cock, and chum.  Yes, someone actually suggested I used the word cock as an expression of fondness for a male sidekick.  So basically I got nothing.  And it wasn't just my need for British synonyms for friend that I was looking for.  I was seeking some guidance on how to make my character believable.  I wasn't really getting anywhere, and unless I wanted to watch all 200 seasons of Doctor Who (I have to say I so don't get what all the fuss is about over that show!) or scour through interviews with every famous British actor making money in American films, I was stuck with just sorta winging it.  To make a long story longer, I pretty much just got frustrated and decided to take a breather.  Step back.  Reevaluate.  Decide if this was the right move for my character and if not, go back to the drawing board.  But somewhere along the way, I just got... bored isn't really the right word, but sidetracked might fit better.  Because I honestly believe in what I'm writing.  I think people will like it and it's pushing my boundaries as a writer - I'm challenging myself.  And maybe that's what my problem is... this isn't easy so I'm trying to sabotage myself?  Argh. 

In any case, I know that I'll finish, I just want to do it by the end of the year.  The last manuscript I finished took me three years, which is a horrible turn-over rate, especially if I want to make real money doing this.  I hope to make this the first book in a series of four, so I better to get work, huh?  Thing's not gonna write itself and me complaining isn't getting it anywhere either!

Here's to hoping I find a way to resolve both mine and my characters' internal struggles.

(: