The Time I Quit Writing #1 – Mid May 2024
Spring is here and I can't help but think of renewal when it's this time of year. I've also been a little nostalgic and found myself thinking about my early adulthood.
Posts tagged ‘writing’
May 12
Apr 28
Take Some Risk – End of April 2024
On the night of February 15, 2024, I had one of the most memorable dreams I have ever had.
Mar 31
Back in the Saddle Again – Update March 2024
About six weeks ago I was in the grocery store. I was doing my usual weekly shopping and came across a deal too good to be true. Olay body wash was on clearance sale for $1.80 a bottle. I had a coupon for $5 off three. So, I bought 3 bottles for $5.40, used the $5 coupon, and walked out of the store paying only .40 cents for 3 bottles of body wash. (They smell good too.) For the first time in years, I felt like the old days (aka pre-covid) were there were actually good deals to be found at the grocery store. I don’t need to tell you how expensive things are now and walking out of the store that day felt like old times.
Since then, I’ve found some other good stuff too. Frozen lasagna, salads, tomatoes, carrots, are just some to the products I’ve caught on a good sale. It’s not everything I need, but enough to feel like old times.
Recently, I’ve also started re-watching some of my favorite TV shows from about 10 – 15 years ago. Elementary, The Good Wife, and Grimm have all made their way to my DVR. I’m not sure I’m falling into a nostalgia hole, but it has had an interesting effect on me.
It reminds me of who I was 10-15 years ago.
In the 2010’s I was a lot more productive with my writing. I feel like since 2020, I have really slacked off. True, I was trying to write a novel from 2020-2022, but I didn’t do much else. I didn’t keep up with publishing news, or work on this blog, or even submit stories. Isn’t it weird that even though I was home a lot, I didn’t push my writing career forward at all. I did, in fact, slide backwards.
Well, not anymore. Recently, my job has put me back on full remote work, meaning I am home all the time now. But instead of slipping back into my old ways, I’ve gone back to more like I was in the 2010’s when I worked full time from home. (Side note: From 2015-2019 I worked from home full time.) And I have been a lot more productive. This month alone, I submitted to 25 places! I also have started a new project and feels promising.
In April, I’m going to keep working on the new project, but I’m also going back and re-visiting older stories that have fallen by the wayside. There are at least three that need to be dusted off and given some attention. Hopefully by May, I’ll have more stories to submit for the summer.
I’m glad I took a break for that year or so. From March 2022 to about September 2022, I didn’t write a thing. And then when I started to dip my toe back into writing and publishing, I felt so overwhelmed. I needed to go slow. Like I said in my last post, I felt like I’m starting all over again.
But now I’m back and gaining more momentum with my work. I’ve got a pretty good writing schedule and, so far, it’s working for me. I’m feeling productive and trying like hell to build something that looks like a writing career. I know that this will take time, but right now, I’m pushing forward.
I hope everyone else is feeling as productive as me. You can do it!
Aug 27
Back to (almost) the Beginning
In the last few years I’ve neglected my writing career. I got so wrapped up in trying to write a novel that I Ignored the other aspects. Yes the pandemic swashed my book readings and literary conferences, but I also didn’t pay much attention to the on-line life either. You can tell just by looking at this blog how little attention I gave it. Perhaps I was burnt out and needed a break from the endless news about who published what. I think I also needed to recharge creatively.
In short, I checked out.
Now I find myself writing again (and trying to finish) new stories. Today I submitted something for the first time in YEARS. That felt really good. Felt productive.
But I find myself staring at my writing life and realizing it is in shambles. I don’t have a submission plan. I don’t have a list of places to send stuff. I’m going to have to start from scratch. Some of the places I might have wanted to submit to are now gone. They folded in the pandemic, or are on an indefinite hiatus. There is also the old dilemma of places that take themes and certain styles (Hard SF for example). I already write weird stuff, finding places for it to live is yet another task I have to add on.
I should say that I am not complaining. I feel like a gardener that neglected their garden and now have to clear all the weeds away to make room for new plantings. It’s work, but not bad work. There’s a lot to do, but once I get going, I just have to maintain.
So that’s where I’m at right now. Dusting off old stories, rewriting them if necessary, and finding homes for them (where ever that is) occupies my time now. I still have a couple stories in progress that I will finish (one will be done by Sept. 1) and then I’ll see where I’m at.
I’ve got a busy fall a head.
Dec 31
2021 – The Year I Rested
It’s the end of 2021 and I can say this was the year I took a break. I started the year wanting (like everyone else) to do some big things… finished the book, write more stories, self-publish, etc. I thought I would do it, but I didn’t. I did a little. A few more chapters. A few half finished stories. But nothing close to what I set out to do at the end of 2020.
Earlier today, I stared at my vision board for 2021 and inwardly groaned. The goals were achievable and I dropped the ball. When I think back on the year all I really remember is repeating pattern of work, meals, family time, and sleep. Very little of this time was devoted to creating.
Even being at home most of the time, I still found other things to do besides create. That is such a foreign feeling for me and yet I fell into this pattern quite easily. I’ve been thinking about this all day. I didn’t quit, I just… didn’t try very hard. My feeling is that I am burnt out.
One day I’ll have to do a post about the times I completely quit writing. There were two times and for different reasons. But every time I found my way back.
This year I didn’t quit. I was still writing and, even earlier this year, I wrote about adding new chapters to my novel. But I didn’t finish anything.
And that is frustrating for me.
I like finishing stuff. It is very satisfying to see a whole project completed and laid in front of me. Going into year three of this book… sucks. I want to be done. I think this desire and made me unmotivated to continue. It looks so contradictory when I write this out. I want to be done with the book, so I don’t write it. LOL. I took a light writing year and now I’m unmotivated to write.
So going into 2022, I’m going to try and get on a schedule. Maybe this will help. I feel like I’ve done better when I put myself on a writing schedule. Either way, I’m going to take the next three months to finish this book. I’m going to have an ending by March 31.
Also, I have not forgotten about putting more short stories on Amazon. But book first. That is the push for the next three months.
Happy 2022 Everyone!
Sep 5
Labor Day 2021
It’s the end of the summer. I don’t know about you, but I’m wishing for another month. While fall is a beautiful time of year with all of it’s exciting moments, I’m still wishing for a few more days of warm weather and long days. This year, things seemed to move too fast.
I did get to spend more time with my family this year and even had a couple of nice day trips out and about in the area. I’m not ready to get on a plane just yet. Things are still not back to normal. But in July, I went out to dinner, in a real restaurant, with no mask. That’s a win. Also, so far everyone I know is safe and healthy. Another win.
As for my writing, I wish could say I finished tons of projects, but the truth is that I am still working hard on my novel. Officially, I have been working on this thing off and on since March 2019 ( unofficially longer). Not too long ago, I got totally sick of it and considered abandoning the project, but after a few months, I have reconsidered. I read a few books, that were in my “to be read” pile, and started thinking of this novel in a new way. What story was I really trying to tell? Was this the best way to tell it? Maybe I was having so many problems, because I was on the wrong path?
So I started writing new scenes and so far, I’m liking the results. Being flexible with my work has been one of the best things I’ve learned over the years. You can’t be scared to try new things and change. Maybe these scenes will help the book, or maybe not, but I’m happy I’m still able to write more into this story. The worst feeling is to write and then hit a creative brick wall.
LOL. Oneday I’m gonna finish! There must be other slower writers out there. I can’t be the only one.
One nice thing is that I’m still working from home, so no commute for me. Those extra 2 hours a day have added to the writing time.
I still plan on self-publishing some of my short stories, so look out for those soon. I hope to get them done by the end of the year.
Lots of work left to do, but the year is not over yet!
Christina Keller's Blog 