The Crash

02/23/2013

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It happens every time I finish a major writing project - I crash. It's been so hard motivating myself to do anything this week, and the fact that my sinuses have been acting up isn't helping. I tell you, life just seems kind of dull when you don't have a writing project to work on. Everything is humdrum. Work. Chores, Errands. So some promotional work on the published books. Go to sleep. Repeat next day.

Well, it is still winter, but spring is coming. Soon, it will be time to get the roses going for another growing season. The days will get longer, especially when we go back on daylights saving time. It will warm up. My muse will return and I should be working on short stories again. The new person in the office will start soon and license renewals will end soon, so maybe this avalanche that's had me buried since November will let up enough to remind me that the sun is still shining out there and allow some fresh air to rush in. And maybe, one day, by the grace of God, we'll get a new pastor at church. Finally.

There is hope on the  horizon. It's keeping up the momentum to get from here to there that's the challenge. Because if you want to see progress, you have to keep at it, right?

Well, the past few months have been a lot of work, so maybe slowing the pace is the right thing to do, at least for a little while. We only have so much energy, and I just spent a lot of it in an explosion to get these two works published. I'll keep doing promotional things, of course, but maybe it is time for me to back off for just a bit and take a writing break, at least. I think the short story endeavors can wait another week or two without causing the apocolypse to happen.

Yes, the crash has happened, but it's natural. Some people call it "writer's block" and get very frustrated with it, but I've been writing long enough to know that this too shall pass. I'll keep promoting. Keep blogging, of course. And I know that once my muse has an opportunity to get the rest it needs, it will start working again. And the momentum will continue.

That's all today. Take care and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Bye!
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Insanity

05/04/2012

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Yep, that's the right word to describe my schedule these days. It seems there's always something going on. Over the past few weeks we've visited with family, visited with friends, did work on our committees at church, and cleaned house. Work is chaos with license renewals for our biggest program and the legislature making the final push to get things  running before regulations time out this month and next month. This has been a brutal session because they're questioning everything with fees down to the jot and tittle and guess what? There are fees in one of my regulations.The June 7 close of the session will be a huge relief - for better or for worse. So that's meant a lot of meetings, on top of meetings I've already had.

Add to that the fact that I didn't feel 100% well with my sinuses 2 days this week but couldn't take off because I had meetings (big surprise), that our big "Share Our Stuff" spring event is tomorrow morning at the church, and I started writing my new book (Move), this week and - yea, insanity.

Incidentally, it's not really out of place for me to start writing a book when things are crazy. It seems the inspiration always hits when I don't have a minute to spare and it seems I have to sledgehammer time into my schedule to peck some research here and a chapter there. I can't explain it. Things will be calm and I'll have writer's block, but let my schedule fill up with dots on every day of  my calendar in my iPhone, and the muse is firing off left and right. Maybe the high level of activity feeds inspiration, or gives me more to draw off of. I have to admit that I pounded out a chapter today durning my lunch hour with no problem. In fact, sometimes I find it easier to write scenes there that are in a work related setting. Maybe it's because I'm already in a work-mindset and I can draw inspiration from what I've been dealing with recently. Yes, it's easiest to write in the quiet with free time, but sometimes those short slices of free time feed my muse, I guess by allowing me to draw inspiration from recent experience.

Or maybe I'm just weird and have a busy lifestyle where I've adapted to being able to write anytime I can find a minute. I learned in college that there's no such thing as dead time. They taught me to be a master at handling my schedule and I learned I can squeeze things into every minute of every day. In fact, sometimes I have to plan to take time off. I guess I'm driven. It seems I always have some personal project going on top of everything else. No sooner do I finish the birdhouse village than I'm off and running on my next novel. This one should keep me occupied for a while - and there's no telling what's next.

That's all for today. Happy Friday to you. I hope you have a great weekend.

Bye!
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Writer's Block - Real or Myth?

01/16/2012

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I've been reading a great deal lately where people say that writer's block is a myth. Our muse doesn't get blocked, they say. We're just making excuses to not writer.

To them I say that if this is true, then "burnout" is also a myth. Think about it - if you apply this logic to every other area of life, then it logically follows that you don't get burned out on work; you simply get lazy and don't want to work anymore.

Now how does that arguement sound? Extreme, right? Well, I'll go to the other extreme and say that if a writer hasn't experienced writer's block, then I wonder if they're really writers. Because frankly, there's a difference between crafting a piece that is truly researched and developed and pounding out whatever random crap runs through your brain. If you want your work to be published and well received by readers, then you must invest in it by putting the time, thought and effort into it to make it the best piece it can be. That doesn't happen overnight and frankly, it can be a daunting task.

I know I sound peevish, but I've been writing for nearly 11 years and it makes me angry for people to "assume" that I get writer's block occasionally because I'm lazy. First of all, you don't stick with something for this long if your lazy. Second, you won't survive in the writing world in you're lazy because you'll drown in the flood of others that are willing to work at it and put their best work forward to get a break.

Writer's block does exist, and it's not laziness. Rather, I return to my previous statement of comparing it to burnout. I believe it's a natural tendency for us to get stuck in ruts and to show us that we need to break out of the same old same old to refresh ourselves and feed our muse. It's a sign that we need to slow down, relax, and experience life in order to refresh our creativity. Tapping that same old well over and over again is only going to drain it dry. We need to replenish it in order to keep turning out fresh work. We need to look around and find new ideas instead of pounding the same old ones, over and over. We need to stretch, grow and learn. And yes, sometimes it means we do need to take a break and live a little. A writer without a life isn't much of a writer. You need to live your life and fully experience it in order to keep the creativity flowing.

So yes, writer's block is just as real as burnout. And if you don't believe me, I challenge you to cancel your vacations this year and don't take a day of leave for the next 365 days. Then tell me what's real.

That's all for today.

Bye!
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