Priorities or…

figuring out what comes first.

There are going to be times in your career when sacrifices will have to be made. Things that were important to you will have to take a back seat to this beast we call writing. It’s natural and expected, at least for the die hard writers. The trick, that none of us has mastered, is to know when to put writing first and when to put it on the backburner.

Around Christmas time, I had to take a break from writing. Actually, I’d taken it earlier, but it was official around that time. I just couldn’t writ anymore. It wasn’t fun, I wasn’t getting anything done and I’d started to hate myself for feeling that way. I had activities that I wanted to do, other crafts I wanted to get involved in, but I felt that I was cheating on my writing by doing them. The break helped me put things in perspective and find my center, or at least as close as I can come to it.

There is nothing wrong with saying that you need some you time. That you want to take a vacation and see the ocean. Don’t feel guilty because you don’t want to write anymore, that you don’t feel that spark. You may get it back, you may not, but forcing yourself to work at it until your eyes cross is not the way to make it work.

that is when setting priorities is important. You have to figure out what is important to you, what will make you happy and sane. Writing may be it, but so should family and friends and other activities. Don’t push them to the side because you think writing is all about writing and nothing else. You have to get inspiration from somewhere, right? How will you see it if you’re always at the computer, typing away.

New Story

Lately, I’ve been working on a story that I’ve had in my head for a while. I’ve titled it Perfect Planning and so far, I find that the title fits. It’s an interracial story, set in TX. It actually starts in SC when the couple are teenagers, then progresses to today’s time. It’s not a conventional love story, in that the story starts with both of them single and ready for a relationship. For the first few chapters, they are involved with other people. I know, a no no, but this a real story. Meaning, that sometimes things happen and you need to deal with them to make them better. Life gets messy and so does this story. Of course in the end there is a happy ending, but I make you work for it as reader to get there. I don’t want you to just have it handed to you. *LOL*

So there are some twists and turns as the story unfolds, some of it predictable, some not (I hope) but all in the name of love. I have been posting it on www.fictionpress.com for others to enjoy and it seems to be getting good reviews. It would help probably if I updated more frequently, but life just does not work that way at times. I want to make a video for it, but that’s going to have to wait until I’ve actually written The End on the last page and then critiqued it.

Ah writing…the never ending struggle.

Finished

So the other day I finally finished critiquing one of my stories. The rush is always the same when you finally finish a piece of work you’ve poured your heart into. To put that final dot on the page, type THE END and save it all. Sure, there is still some work to do, a few touches here and there, but the meat of it, the main course is done. I feel good about it, happy to see that story put to bed. Now, I can move onto other things.

I still have lots of stories to go, working on a big one right now. But that’s okay. My mind seems to be suffering from ADHD, so I can get a bunch of things done and it seems like it took no time at all.

Okay, that was exaggerating but it’s how I feel.

So, I may make a video for this latest book, post it on here and see what people think. Need to get to work on finding photos and some ideas on what I want. Put the synopsis up with the video so people get an idea of what’s going on.

Time to celebrate!

Catching up

It’s been a while since I posted here. To be honest, writing and I have not been getting along. Too many other things that give me the satisfaction I was lacking from writing. Doesn’t mean I stopped, just…slowed down as if I were in a school zone.  Lack of recognition, lack of progress, lack of anything really had me thinking that this was perhaps not my calling. But…stories kept coming. Piling up like an accident on the freeway, jumbling and tumbling around each other, demanding to be heard. I couldn’t stop working on them, even if I wasn’t getting anywhere. So wrote…a paragraph here, a paragraph there, but not the full on steam I was used to.

even now, I still would rather do other things than write. Perhaps I lack ambition or drive. Or maybe I just want something in the mail that says “you’re story has been accepted.”

either way, I need to find my dream again. I need to put pen to paper and finish these stories that are waiting for me. they and I deserve at least that.