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 April co-hosts: Jennifer
Lane, L Diane Wolfe, Jenni Enzor, and Natalie Aguirre. For
links to all contributors, click here.
This month’s optional question: What fantasy
character would you like to fight, go on a quest with, or have a beer/glass of
wine with?
I’m not big into fantasy so this question isn’t my
bailiwick, but a butter beer with Hermione Granger might be kind of fun.
So, writing related. No. Sorry. Life related.
This week marks a new era for me.
I started this blog to deal with the emotional fallout
related to unexpected job elimination from a long-term employer. Middle Passages
led to some freelance writing and one of my freelance jobs resulted in an offer
of a position for my town council on aging. When I accepted it I promised
myself I’d keep writing, no matter what. I’m proud to have done that, getting
up at 5:30 in the morning, five days a week to spend an hour writing before
work. But on Friday April 4, I’ll be turning my alarm off permanently. At
noon that day, I’ll be officially retired.
I let out a long breath as I typed that last sentence.
Being used to so much structure in my life, I’m not
sure what shape unlimited free time will take, but I hope I’ll buckle down and
focus on getting one of my darn books published. Over the last year while
working on a revision for book #4 as well as one for book #2, I stopped doing
anything query related. It left me disheartened and it was hard to write and
query while working and keeping up a home, pretty-much singlehandedly.
I’m honest enough to recognize that other people find a way
to do it all. I however, have not.
That says something, and I know it. With all the time in the world, I wonder if I’ll call my own bluff and dedicate my energy toward publication. If anything, I’d love to shut off that nasty voice in my brain that says, “It’s not that you didn’t make time. You’re just not good enough.”
In the meantime, I do have one plan for early retirement. Fifteen years ago I
worked through the lessons in The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron, which I’ve referred to so many times here in Middle Passages. Between morning pages,
artist’s dates and the weekly lessons, I determined my future course. Without The
Artist’s Way, I’m pretty sure my four novels would never have been written.
The book sits on my bookshelf with other treasured reading. After
a vacation down south to clear my head, I plan to open it up again.
15 comments:
Congratulations on your retirement! I'm just a few years away from it myself. I imagine you'll want some kind of structure, even if only to finish and polish those stories. Nothing stopping you now!
Congrats on your retirement! I hope you get the time you want to write. But also be sure to plan other things that you enjoy and get you out with friends and family and that you enjoy. I'm so excited for you.
Happy retirement. Those wide open spaces of freedom can seem a little daunting at first, but you'll soon find a different routine.
Retirement is one of those "passages" of life we all must go through. It feels awkward at first, but you'll find a balance. And don't let that insecure voice in your head tell you are not worth it...YOU ARE! You will be published!
Congrats on the retirement! I'm sure you will continue with a structure but centred around writing, with times for drafting, querying, editing, instead of all being squeezed into a predawn hour, and leisure time of course. It sounds wonderful to me.
Toasting your retirement with a butter beer! :)
You probably already know this, but Julia Cameron has written some other books since The Artist's Way, just in case you want to check out any of those, too. :)
Oh Liza! That's going to be such a thing and coming back to The Artist's Way is a perfect thing to do. I'm back doing morning pages and artist's dates and I love it.
Congrats on your retirement! Writing can sometime seem hopeless. But we always come back to find hope in it, don’t we?
Congrats on your retirement. Writing and questing for publishing is hard. Wishing you the purrfect home for your books.
Congratulations on your retirement! I stepped down from my teaching job last year and it has really helped my writing. Like you, I was only able to squeeze in bits of writing here and there. But now I'm able to focus so much better. You're so right that we can't do everything at once. Enjoy your vacation and your new life!
Congrats on retirement. I'm excited for you and you'll be surprised at how you can putter away a day happily. Don't stress yourself out on writing goals. You have a really good book, you are worthy!!
get that camera out too - and enjoy nature through the lens.
Truly enjoy your days. You earned the freedom.
Sounds like you have a plan. When I retired from the day job, I expected I would spend more hours writing. But after years of only having late evening as my time to write, I find that is my most creative so I still only write late into the night. I'm looking forward to hearing how it goes. Enjoy your time.
Bravo, Liza, on your forthcoming retirement, You've earned this. Enjoy it! And good choice to take a vacation first to "clear your head." Then breathe. And then pick up The Artist's Way. More power to you!
Congratulations, Liza! Being able to retire is a privilege, and I'm thrilled for you! I know too many people who died too soon or too disabled with health issues to enjoy it. I having a small warning for you. You don't have all of the time in the world. 😂 If you were a busy person before retirement, you will be a busy person after retirement. I'll die busy. 😂. Wishing you all the best and happy writing!
Ah, retirement, That blissful dream existence you imagine for so many years. Then you get there, voluntarily or not, and you discover it's a whole new version of imposter syndrome. Keep us posted on the adventure of retirement.
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