I had to go in yesterday to get the bloodwork for my annual physical done yesterday. Test, bah. I know what’s wrong with me, and I don’t need to be picked, probed, prodded, scanned, or sampled to figure it out. I have PNP - Post Novel Paralysis. I haven’t been able to write anything new since I published Move and Feathered Frenzy. My muse is worn out. This isn’t uncommon after finishing a major project, and considering that I had 2 writing projects in progress for a while, well, I probably drove my poor muse near death’s door.
Most people call it “writer’s block,” but this is different. This is a kind of block that comes when you drain the well dry, and it’s time to find a new approach. All stories are about the protagonist coming under attack and having to change, but I think I’ve beat the “forced life change” thing to death. Of course, that’s been a theme of late because my life was rearranged a few years ago. But that’s all over now and things are rolling along again. I’m back into the mundane details of day to day life and, I suppose, need to remember how I found inspiration in that before. I know I did it. Battleground Earth, Quarantine, Resonance, Blurry and Anywhere But Here were written prior to my job/life shift in 2010, as well as several devotionals and a few short stories that got some attention online.
Not that I’m asking for more drama, chaos, or life kicking me in the rear. As the saying around here goes, “nobody’s got time for that!” Really, who needs it? My paradigm has shifted, rearranged, changed, moved, and now the foundation is set. The bruises from where life kicked me in the rear finally healed. I worked harder than I knew I was capable of to get the “sucks to be you” out of my life. Let that crap keep moving right along out of here, thank you very much.
The truth is, there’s drama in the mundane. You don’t see it when you’re going through major changes or a crisis because you don’t have the time or energy to worry about it – and frankly, the consequences of bad decisions are aggravating as hell and nothing but an unwanted nuisance when have to change your life. I suppose that once the storm has passed then it takes a while to open your eyes to see the smaller details that are moving everyday life along. That seems to be where my issue is.
I know it seems silly, and certainly you don’t have any business getting involved in other peoples’ problems. It’s also not wise to get bogged down in the minutiae of everyday aggravations in your own life. But these things can have meaning and lead to growth too; not the big spurts or paradigm shifts I spoke of earlier, but in the slow, almost imperceptible movement of everyday life, like sand washing off the shore. This is where the inspiration for my renewed venture into short stories will come from, and this is where I must learn to regain my vision and my inspiration.
So that’s my explanation for how I can travel from Myrtle Beach, SC to The Grand Canyon in Arizona in a months’ time and still have bumkus for inspiration. I have Post Novel Paralysis and those things were too big for me to put into the perspective of a fiction context now. I have to reflect more on the everyday details, and this is a lesson that only comes from the day to day grind of life.
That’s all today. Have a great rest of the week.
Bye!
Most people call it “writer’s block,” but this is different. This is a kind of block that comes when you drain the well dry, and it’s time to find a new approach. All stories are about the protagonist coming under attack and having to change, but I think I’ve beat the “forced life change” thing to death. Of course, that’s been a theme of late because my life was rearranged a few years ago. But that’s all over now and things are rolling along again. I’m back into the mundane details of day to day life and, I suppose, need to remember how I found inspiration in that before. I know I did it. Battleground Earth, Quarantine, Resonance, Blurry and Anywhere But Here were written prior to my job/life shift in 2010, as well as several devotionals and a few short stories that got some attention online.
Not that I’m asking for more drama, chaos, or life kicking me in the rear. As the saying around here goes, “nobody’s got time for that!” Really, who needs it? My paradigm has shifted, rearranged, changed, moved, and now the foundation is set. The bruises from where life kicked me in the rear finally healed. I worked harder than I knew I was capable of to get the “sucks to be you” out of my life. Let that crap keep moving right along out of here, thank you very much.
The truth is, there’s drama in the mundane. You don’t see it when you’re going through major changes or a crisis because you don’t have the time or energy to worry about it – and frankly, the consequences of bad decisions are aggravating as hell and nothing but an unwanted nuisance when have to change your life. I suppose that once the storm has passed then it takes a while to open your eyes to see the smaller details that are moving everyday life along. That seems to be where my issue is.
I know it seems silly, and certainly you don’t have any business getting involved in other peoples’ problems. It’s also not wise to get bogged down in the minutiae of everyday aggravations in your own life. But these things can have meaning and lead to growth too; not the big spurts or paradigm shifts I spoke of earlier, but in the slow, almost imperceptible movement of everyday life, like sand washing off the shore. This is where the inspiration for my renewed venture into short stories will come from, and this is where I must learn to regain my vision and my inspiration.
So that’s my explanation for how I can travel from Myrtle Beach, SC to The Grand Canyon in Arizona in a months’ time and still have bumkus for inspiration. I have Post Novel Paralysis and those things were too big for me to put into the perspective of a fiction context now. I have to reflect more on the everyday details, and this is a lesson that only comes from the day to day grind of life.
That’s all today. Have a great rest of the week.
Bye!
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