Motivation, Inspiration, and Dr. Pepper
Wednesdays are a good day to sit back and reflect on the first half of the week and to look forward to the last half. There's a reason we call Wednesday "hump day". It's often the hardest day of the week to get through at work and in our daily lives.
On this particular Wednesday I have been working on the final Mythical Madness novel, ShadowBound. This is Jak's book and should wrap up the series. I'm normally a fairly fast writer, but this book has been like pulling teeth. It's taken me twice as long to get to 20,000 words than it usually does to complete an entire novel.
After I ground out 1500 hard-fought words I opened my Dr Pepper, sat back and turned on South Park for laughs, and found myself reflecting on why this book has been so difficult to complete.
The book itself isn't the issue. I enjoy writing in the Mythical Madness world and I have had a vision of Jak's journey for quite a while. I have books planned out through the end of 2018 and I have a ton of work to do to meet all my goals. So, as I sat on my couch contemplating Jak's story and why it's so darned hard to write, I've come to the conclusion that it's not the book. It's me! I got off track during my depressive episode earlier this year, and I don't think I'm fully back on that track. Real life, family, and the things going on in the world are distracting me from my imaginary world and making it difficult to fully immerse myself.
I think every author faces this dilemma at some time or another. The best advice I've gotten is that I shouldn't stop writing, no matter how hard it is. Even if I get one word down, it's a victory. From authors who have beat this issue, I've heard that forcing myself to put words on paper, even if they aren't particularly good words, will grease the wheels. If I push myself to continue on, it should get easier day by day! I've been working hard to follow this advice, making time to write every day. Even if it's unpleasant to force myself to get into writing mode, I have found that once I start it gets easier and easier as time goes on.
So, on this Wednesday I would challenge all writers to forge ahead, even if it feels like you can't bear to put the pen to paper or the fingers to the keys. Even if you only manage ten minutes or ten words, it's something. Make writing a habit, and eventually it will come more easily (I hope!). In the end, ShadowBound will be finished and Jak will get his story. It's been a long, uphill battle with many more skirmishes to fight, but I won't give up!
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