Writing, Interrupted
We've all been there. You're busy being uber creative and loving every minute of it when...*smack*
Out of nowhere, you're hit by the realities of life. Sometimes life takes pity on you and just gives you a little shove off the path, but other times, it deems it necessary to throw you off the nearest cliff.Needless to say, no matter how well any of us handle stress and juggle priorities there will come a point where we find ourselves staring at a blank page (or screen, in my case). Minutes go by, then hours, then days, and to our horror, WEEKS!*dead faint*Okay, so maybe fainting doesn't really solve any problems, but neither do any of our usual tricks to get around writer's block. In my instance, normally when I find myself stuck I hang out with friends, watch television or movies, read books, and do some self-care (sleep! massage! eat!) for a few days and am back on track. Unfortunately, as of late I have really struggled to even turn on the computer, much less attempt to put my thoughts on paper.There is a superstition amongst Chinese zodiac followers that goes like this: if you are a specific sign and you are in the year of your sign, it is extremely bad luck for you. For example, this is the Year of the Monkey, and I, in case you haven't guessed already, am a Monkey. Although I don't subscribe generally to luck and fortune, I can't say I haven't wondered if everything that has happened this year isn't a result of this supposed trend. I'm not going to go into details here, but let's just say that everything that could have gone wrong did in every part of my life. I've dealt with losses, conflicts, and difficulties galore, all while trying to complete Amulet of Morgana and re-editing the other books.I am happy to say that I managed to do it, but it took me all of this year so far just to get to this point. Along the way, many projects got put aside and I had to narrow my focus more than I liked. I'm behind on the original timeline for the year, and some things have not fallen into place despite my best efforts. With only three more months left of this calendar year (but five months of the lunar calendar, which is what the zodiac prediction is based off of), I can expect to encounter more challenges ahead.Having gone through what I did this year, it would be completely understandable if I had chosen to take a break from writing. It would have made life easier and removed quite a bit off my shoulders. On top of that, given that I typically produce my best work when I am emotionally and physically healthy, whatever I wrote likely would have been less than stellar. Still, choosing to remain silent meant I would give up what little gain I had made in the sea of fiction and take the chance I would fade into oblivion while other authors remained productive.In the end, I did what I always tell my own patients to do: prioritize what is most important (and what you have control over) and focus your energy on those first. I gave myself leeway to switch the order of my list depending on what was most pressing, but kept the ultimate goals in mind. Writing has always been a stress reliever and way of working through things, and reminding myself of that was greatly helpful. On the days when everything was going wrong, I made sure that even if I didn't actually write anything down I was brainstorming and jotting down ideas for later. I redirected some of my efforts towards things like redoing covers and creating new character art. When the books started calling for me to come back, I made time to sit down and do them justice. At times, I channeled my own emotions into the plot, transferring them to various people within the story.In the end, I made the conscious choice to continue creating material even in the face of adversity. Every day that I wrote something was a day that reminded me I was strong - that I was resilient despite what was being thrown at me. I believe that if you can fight through the pain and the stress, your skill as a writer grows tremendously. You come to have a fuller understanding of the trials and tribulations of your own characters, and can translate that into words that allow for a genuine connection with your readers. It is a very scary endeavor to be so willing to open up emotionally, but one that I feel is beyond rewarding in the end.Now, as I take a moment to write this, I am happy to say that there are some very exciting things coming up on the horizon that I can't wait to share with you all. I really wanted to show just how much I love all of you for sticking with me through this, and for those of you who are new, consider these things welcome gifts!Until next time, lovelies, luceat lux vestra!
Out of nowhere, you're hit by the realities of life. Sometimes life takes pity on you and just gives you a little shove off the path, but other times, it deems it necessary to throw you off the nearest cliff.Needless to say, no matter how well any of us handle stress and juggle priorities there will come a point where we find ourselves staring at a blank page (or screen, in my case). Minutes go by, then hours, then days, and to our horror, WEEKS!*dead faint*Okay, so maybe fainting doesn't really solve any problems, but neither do any of our usual tricks to get around writer's block. In my instance, normally when I find myself stuck I hang out with friends, watch television or movies, read books, and do some self-care (sleep! massage! eat!) for a few days and am back on track. Unfortunately, as of late I have really struggled to even turn on the computer, much less attempt to put my thoughts on paper.There is a superstition amongst Chinese zodiac followers that goes like this: if you are a specific sign and you are in the year of your sign, it is extremely bad luck for you. For example, this is the Year of the Monkey, and I, in case you haven't guessed already, am a Monkey. Although I don't subscribe generally to luck and fortune, I can't say I haven't wondered if everything that has happened this year isn't a result of this supposed trend. I'm not going to go into details here, but let's just say that everything that could have gone wrong did in every part of my life. I've dealt with losses, conflicts, and difficulties galore, all while trying to complete Amulet of Morgana and re-editing the other books.I am happy to say that I managed to do it, but it took me all of this year so far just to get to this point. Along the way, many projects got put aside and I had to narrow my focus more than I liked. I'm behind on the original timeline for the year, and some things have not fallen into place despite my best efforts. With only three more months left of this calendar year (but five months of the lunar calendar, which is what the zodiac prediction is based off of), I can expect to encounter more challenges ahead.Having gone through what I did this year, it would be completely understandable if I had chosen to take a break from writing. It would have made life easier and removed quite a bit off my shoulders. On top of that, given that I typically produce my best work when I am emotionally and physically healthy, whatever I wrote likely would have been less than stellar. Still, choosing to remain silent meant I would give up what little gain I had made in the sea of fiction and take the chance I would fade into oblivion while other authors remained productive.In the end, I did what I always tell my own patients to do: prioritize what is most important (and what you have control over) and focus your energy on those first. I gave myself leeway to switch the order of my list depending on what was most pressing, but kept the ultimate goals in mind. Writing has always been a stress reliever and way of working through things, and reminding myself of that was greatly helpful. On the days when everything was going wrong, I made sure that even if I didn't actually write anything down I was brainstorming and jotting down ideas for later. I redirected some of my efforts towards things like redoing covers and creating new character art. When the books started calling for me to come back, I made time to sit down and do them justice. At times, I channeled my own emotions into the plot, transferring them to various people within the story.In the end, I made the conscious choice to continue creating material even in the face of adversity. Every day that I wrote something was a day that reminded me I was strong - that I was resilient despite what was being thrown at me. I believe that if you can fight through the pain and the stress, your skill as a writer grows tremendously. You come to have a fuller understanding of the trials and tribulations of your own characters, and can translate that into words that allow for a genuine connection with your readers. It is a very scary endeavor to be so willing to open up emotionally, but one that I feel is beyond rewarding in the end.Now, as I take a moment to write this, I am happy to say that there are some very exciting things coming up on the horizon that I can't wait to share with you all. I really wanted to show just how much I love all of you for sticking with me through this, and for those of you who are new, consider these things welcome gifts!Until next time, lovelies, luceat lux vestra!
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