A friend called me today and said, “I had been going great guns on a writing project, then I lost momentum and now I’m miserable.”
My response, “Welcome to the real world of writing.”
It is a fact (at least from my experience), once you have immersed yourself in the creative process and experienced that alternative world of your own making, it is painful not to revisit it often. However, the longer you go between visits, the harder it is to return and the more miserable you become. Even a little work each day will keep you happy and push misery to a lesser position. But do not fear, your friend misery is available night or day to prey upon your insecurity should you stop for much longer than a day.
One thing I do is to say to myself, “This is going to be awful to start with, I know, but I will start anyway. ”
Each day my writing gets less awful and before too long I am back on track. It is also very smart to have your next project ready to go before you finish the last one. That helps ease the transition.
So, just recognize if you are miserable after a stall in your writing that you are in good company since most writers tend to have some variation on that theme at some point in their writing career.
Good luck, my friends. And happy writing.
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