Not exactly a Writing Hiatus, which I previously talked about.
Not Writer's Block, or the Writing Doldrums (oh, that sounds dreadful, doesn't it?)
But definitely a Writing Lull.
With three completed manuscripts (which could always use another round of edits) the concept of "write something new," is not appealing at the moment. With the state of the publishing industry in so much flux, and writers trying to decide whether to pursue traditional publishing (with or without an agent,) e-publishing (with or without a publishing company) or self-publishing (which some writers are calling "indie publishing" because it sounds well, so much cooler) there are so many directions it's often hard to find a direction.
Last weekend I was visiting my family, and a family member asked me how the writing was going.
"What writing?" I said, scraping my foot on the ground.
"Want to come over and see what I've been working on?" he asked, grinning broadly.
"Sure," I said.
And when I got there, he pulled out book after book (those black composition books, you know?) that he'd filled (by hand) with family memories, day-to-day observations, even pasting trivia and newspaper articles into the pages of these books.He was a writing machine! Going at it at all hours, whenever thoughts came to him, he felt the urge to get them down, get them down, get the words down before the thoughts were gone from his brain.
I was impressed and amazed. He is a True Writer.
As for me? I felt inspired, and also a little ashamed. I am supposed to be the "writer" in the family, and all I've been doing is moping about the "lull" in my publishing career -
when WRITING means so much more than BEING PUBLISHED.
Yup.
I think I needed that little reminder.
So - Bring on the Black Books. Let's get this writing thing going again!
The heck with Publishing. I need to fall in love with WRITING again, and maybe then I'll get out of my Writer's Lull.
Has this ever happened to you? Ever grown tired of something you once loved?
Ever suffered burn-out from chasing after the brass ring so hard?
What made you fall in love with writing again??
3 comments:
I was told I couldn't write. I guess you could say I had a less than inspiring English teacher in High School. So... I've never really tried writing. However, my sister has been working at rewriting her Doctoral Thesis for years. I guess she is experiencing a lull, burn-out or block... or all three!
Dreaming - Teachers like that shouldn't be teaching. *sigh* Teachers should inspire people, not make them think they're unworthy, don't you think? Besides, you write now, don't you? You write a blog!
And good luck to your sister. It's hard when you stop in the middle of a project, then try and get back into it. Hope she finds inspiration and powers through!
I love your point about the importance of focusing on the writing and not the being published part. It sort of reminds me of that line from the movie Field of Dreams:"If you build it, they will come."
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