Monday, May 23, 2011

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.

Monday, May 16, 2011

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.