Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of our ninja leader Alex Cavanaugh. Thank you to November cohosts, Jennifer Lane, Jenni Enzor, Renee Scattergood, Rebecca Douglass, Lynn Bradshaw, and Melissa Maygrove. For links to all contributors, click here.
November’s optional question - When you began writing, what
did you imagine your life as a writer would be like? Were you right, or has
this experience presented you with some surprises along the way?
I knew I’d be away and unavailable when the email
announcing this month’s IWSG post arrived. I pre-wrote my post, unaware of the optional
question. Happily, I came close enough!
Sixteen years ago when I created Middle Passages, I was besotted.
Every word I wrote felt as rewarding as that electrifying, innocent joy of
first love. But as we all know, dazzling first loves don’t always remain for the
long haul. It’s like that with writing too. Many submissions and rejections
followed those initial earnest blog posts, which taught me that real writing takes
hard work, patience and time. I get it, but I’d be a liar to say I don’t miss that
period when everything was fresh and exhilarating.
These days, writing feels more like living with a trusted
partner. We know we belong together and have enough confidence in our relationship
that sometimes we do things apart.
Occasionally though we experience a lapse in communication, which happened this past April when my writing brain forgot to tell me it planned to take off to parts unknown the same day I retired. I trust it to return, but patience is key. While it's been away, I've been reading, walking a couple of miles a day, taking yoga and Zumba classes and learning Mahjong. I want to tell you my days are full, but they aren't, really. I have plenty of time to write, but zero inspiration. So, to keep myself going, I’ve been playing around with my old blog posts, cutting and pasting them into a Word document, then editing the heck out of them.
You know how when you love your own words, your proofreading eyes fail to find mistakes? Now I see them all. Mostly though, I find ways to tighten the essays to make them more compelling. It's fun. Re-reading the early-writing me feels like visiting with an old friend I haven’t seen in years. It's a little like receiving postcards from afar. It helps me stay in touch with my imagination while it's off galivanting.
What do you do when inspiration takes a holiday?
