Getting Back into the Writing Game

Wow, June 1st already. Where has the year gone? For me, the last few weeks have flown by with nothing really concrete to show for it. I've taken a break from writing since I finished the revision to my YA paranormal earlier in May and that was right after I finished my YA contemporary back in October (with a sidetrip to a WIP that led to a dead end - for now). So now on the writing front I'm in the waiting game to see how both these books do. They're out of my hands for now. But that means I have to decide what to pursue next in terms of writing and that's a hard thing to figure out sometimes - especially without a shiny new idea dangling in front of me. I hate being in this limbo time.

It probably doesn't help that the family life is not expected to get any less stressfull over the next few months. As many of you know, my oldest daughter will be prepping to go to university in the fall and we'll have to get her packed and off and started on her new life (sob!!), we're trying to get a major reno started this summer and, most stressful of all, my mom (who lives about 4 hours away) will be undergoing surgery for breast cancer this month. My mind isn't exactly on mapping out my next story, you know? And yet, I know if I don't start writing soon, it will be that much harder to get back into it again. I've always believed that writers need to recharge their batteries and stepping away from writing and doing other things is crucial to creating good writing. But I've never left it for very long. A month at the most. And that's what I'm coming up to now.

I think I fear that somehow I will have forgotten how to write if I stay away from it for too long. That if I do let the personal life take over I will lose the one true discipline I've nurtured in my life. Believe me, I'm not that disciplined in anything else I've attempted but for writing I have started, I have kept at it - even through dark times, raising 3 children and work and family conflicts and books that felt like they were going nowhere - I have continued to write. So then why am I worried about not immediately picking up the pen now? What's holding me back?

Maybe I need a little bit of positive, go forward news from the writing front to get me fired up again. A good writer friend just told me about some news she received that really gave her a boost of confidence. It was just a few words but boy did they fire her up. I think that's what I need. Some sign from the universe that the brain cells I'll fry during the writing process are a worthy sacrifice. The summer will be here soon and we all know that the already slow publishing business will grind to a halt then. Before that happens - and before my personal life completely takes over - I need that little bit of something that will help me get back into the writing game again. For writers it doesn't take much to make us pick up the pen again. But a little good news sure makes that pen lighter.