I\’ve had a rough January.
I set out with goals to write a short story a week, and thousands of words a day of other material. Get my novel done and up for sale. Really get cracking. I finished a first short story, and it was one of five accepted for a slot in the \”Taste of Viable Paradise\” workshop at Arisia. Cool stuff (fun workshop).
But then I got derailed, badly.
I had a death in the family that hit pretty hard, and the next thing you know, I am doing *anything* I can except writing. Reading books, revamping my workspace, cleaning around the house, running errands. I tried a bunch of times to sit down and write, and it just wasn\’t happening. I\’d sit down, open a word processor and just…have nothing there.
I sold my great huge desktop PC, and bought the little Asus laptop I am writing this on now. Hoping, I guess, that the change might kick me over. And maybe that plus the huge revamp of my workspace did help, some.
Yesterday I read Dean Wesley Smith talking about his January, and how he was doing on his two short story per week challenge. It was a good read. Some of the replies – from him and others – were even better. You can read it here. Good stuff.
Anyway, yesterday after reading that, I realized a month had gone by. It had been a full month since I\’d written any new fiction. It\’s been a long time since I\’d had a dry spell that long, and I realized it was past time to get back to the keyboard, even if I wasn\’t really in top form emotionally yet.
So I sat down to write. And got nothing.
I went on errands, came back, tried to write. Nothing.
Played with the kids, tried to write. Nothing.
Kids went to bed, tried to write. Nothing. Went out to buy some sleds, for after this storm passes by. Came back to write after, and still nothing.
But then, I finally got a first sentence down. And a bit more. And a little more. Before I was done, I had seven hundred and four words down, and the story was rolling forward.
Seven hundred and four words is less than an hour\’s work for me, most days. But it felt wonderful to have broken through and gotten writing again.
And now, at the end of day two, I\’ve written 2,940 more. It\’s still not a ton. But it\’s getting there. I\’ve got words flowing again, and for now, that\’s enough.
It’s like pulling teeth sometimes, isn’t it? I haven’t written much of anything in the last week. So close to finishing my NaNo novel, halfway through final rewrite of another novel, have a brand new computer, and I’m just trying to pull myself out of a dry hole.
It’s like pulling teeth sometimes, isn’t it? I haven’t written much of anything in the last week. So close to finishing my NaNo novel, halfway through final rewrite of another novel, have a brand new computer, and I’m just trying to pull myself out of a dry hole.
Not usually, no! 🙂 It’s been a long time since I went this long without writing anything. Anyway, seem to be over the worst now. Time to play catch up!
Not usually, no! 🙂 It’s been a long time since I went this long without writing anything. Anyway, seem to be over the worst now. Time to play catch up!