Wednesday Writerly Way ~ The Slumps

Today, I'm talking about the slumps that every writer faces at one  time or other in their writing career. Yes, it happens to all of us so don't feel like it's only you.

By the author blogs I've been reading lately, it's becoming an epidemic! About every third blog I've read in the past month has one author or another in it. That averages out to 75 authors.

It may be to summer heat, depression, not having a schedule, the busyness of life, or a host of a thousand other things. We all have things we have to do. Things like a job, a house, children, loved ones, uninspired, financial woes, and even deaths to deal with.

My current slump has lasted five months! I haven't written a new word in my manuscript for that long. Yes, I have filled in some words that my aphasia stole from my mind. Yes, I've corrected a few sentences. But not the 600 new words a week or month I promised myself when I first took on this project. Count them...zero, nada, zilch, the big goose egg of forward progress.

Is it frustration? Oh yes it is to the rafters.

BUT (this is a a three-letter words that grows ten feet tall)

I learned a long time ago...

Frustration leads to further frustration. It's hard to be creative when you are frustrated. It's a dog chasing its tail around and around. Don't fight it.

Stop kicking the dead dog trying to get it to move. You are your own worst enemy. Now if not writing is due to laziness on your part, this doesn't apply. But we all have limits and how far and fast we can push ourselves.

Deadlines are made to be broken especially self imposed deadlines. As indie authors we set our own deadlines. As traditionally published authors, yes we have deadlines but there is wiggle room built in.

Goals are flexible. They are based on what you can actually accomplish. Goals like shooting for 110,000 word manuscript is daunting at best especially with the schedules of have-to-dos piled a mile high.Shrink the goals into manageable pieces.  Set goals in 25K word increments and then go on to the next 25K. The first 25K and the middle 25K are the hardest to get through. When writing is tough how about 200 words?

Realize this all of this and move on. It's like the Serenity Prayer. I've quoted it often these past few months. There are things in my life which I cannot change and I have the wisdom to know it.

I am currently riding the waves until things calm down to a squall instead of a hurricane. No, this is not writer's block. I've stopped writing for a time. There is a big difference in the two. I know this because I've been through this before. Not for this long, but I know it will pass.

I have the courage to say this will pass and I will once again write again. I know this. I believe this. And, I look forward to this in the near future. There's not much a writer can go through that I haven't walked in their shoes. I've been at this for a every long time.

Along the path of writing there are stones in the road. You may have stubbed your toes on a few, or even tripped and fallen. Yes, there is pain involved, but in the grand scheme of things...you are a writer. That's what you do. That is in essence of who you are as you sit there pounding away at a keyboard. Nobody ever promised that anything you wanted to do would not be without some sacrifices.

Again I say, realize this and move on.

Keep writing and loving the Lord.

To Write or Not Right Now

I've spent the last two weeks not writing a single word except for this blog. What's behind this stoppage of work? Exhaustion? Family? Uninspired? Laziness? Mental issues? Depression? How about all of the above!

Whichever one I want to blame that's the cause. This month is more than halfway over and I haven't written a single new word to my book, Don't Get Your Panties in a Wad. In fact, I haven't even opened my rough draft this month.<shaking my head> I'm ashamed to call myself an writer, because I'm not writing.

This month I'm exhausted. I stay that way no matter how much sleep I get. I'll drag in from my PT/OT sessions and crawl into bed. In a two-hour session, I'll peddle mountains for three miles on a bike, 1,000+ steps, biofeedback/e-stem exercises for 20 minutes, range of motion exercises for my arm, computerized reactions, and stretches for an hour. After a two-hour nap, I'll do more of the at home exercises and another round of electrical stimulation (e-stim). I'll lay down for another half hour, not really sleeping just doing some light bed exercises and stretches while watching the idiot box. Then I'll nuke something for supper eating it with no appetite but because I have to eat before night meds and 8 & 10 PM.

On the family front, so far this month there has been one grandchild's birthday, a day at the beach,  my anniversary, my nephew's birthday, my niece's wedding, homecoming at my home church, two baby showers, and my husband's birthday. Never a dull moment which the reason this blog is titled The Murphey Saga instead of some clever writerly name. It's the never ending story of the Jo Murphey, the writer. It's comparable to a bad soap opera.  Kind of like that night time soap opera a dozen and a half years ago with Billy Crystal "Soap."

Uninspired and laziness (see above) It seems there are more things taking away my energy spoons faster than I can replace them. So just what am I doing with my time? I find myself on POGO in between times trying to increase my speed of various games, rebuilding my vocabulary with Scrabble  and QWERTY, matching skills with Mahjong, Sequencing abilities with card games, Bingo, and Boggle. I used to find these things relaxing but now they task my brain and can get frustrating...it's work. But I'm also building my clicking speed with my mouse. If only I could draw left handed, but that's a superfine motor skills...like writing. On the hand writing front, I can write where others can actually read what I wrote. I've progressed from that large kindergarten paper to wide ruled although I still have trouble staying on the line. Maybe I'll try coloring.

The mental stress is caused from the stroke and I realize this. Having to backspace over misspelled words, seeing all the green and red squiggly lines is down right depressing. My depression stems from my not being able to write/type the way I'm used to and a whole lot of other things since the stroke. I long for the days of just 4 1/2 months ago when I could  plug away at my keyboard and finish a rough draft of 50K words in a matter of weeks. I started this book two months ago and typed 16K words and it's a mess worthy of a grade-schooler and I'm having doubts big time. You think I'm joking? You know that grade reading level thingie in the spell checker? Up until last week it tallied 5.2. But the last addition brought it up to 8.0 which is about standard although my usual for nonfiction is about 10th grade level. I keep reminding myself that I had a stroke less than five months ago, but that is getting old even to me. If you are following my other blogspot blog PastorJoSays, it goes into more detail about my rationale for my stroke. 

This is my pity pot thinking when it takes me 45 minutes to shower and wash my short hair, and another 5 to brush my teeth and hair, 20 minutes to put on clothes so they are not skewed or twisted. Forget about make-up! I've never been one of those fru-fru type of gals. Maybe some lipstick or blush on occasion, thank goodness. I've never been gorgeous and no amount of war paint will improve it. Normal was shower, dress, makeup and out the door in under fifteen minutes. Being able to cut my own finger and toe nails...maybe even polish them or buff them. Growing your own fresh vegetables. Being able to wash dishes in the sink. Fast chopping ingredients and preparing gourmet, home cooked meals. The little things in life that most people take for granted or at least I did until my stroke. Time's up! Off the pity pot.

On a lighter note, I'd forgotten I'd signed up for the annual Zombie Walk in Savannah next month until the email arrived last week. I'd planned to participate in full zombie regalia, do a book signing, and offer PDF CD versions of Zombie Apocalypse: Redemption and what should have been Zombie Apocalypse: Travelers. Travelers still sits on my hard drive, and since the stroke, it still needs a major rewrite. I e-mailed the sponsor back with my regrets, explaining my stroke, and although I would make an excellent zombie with a dragging arm, droop my face a bit, and twisted foot...I just couldn't sign books. Oh well, maybe by March in Jacksonville. Or next year in Savannah. It seems like I'm saying that a lot these days...maybe next year. It's not procrastination...it just is. My insurance is done for physical therapy. I'm still fighting with Social Security Disability with the help of a lawyer. But if it takes as long as with my husband's case...I won't need it. I plan to be fully recovered by then.

In the meantime, I plan to start writing again in on Monday...wish me luck.
Keep writing and loving the Lord

How do handle real life intrusions to your writing?