It's been awhile, huh? Nearly a year has passed since my last blog post. 😅 Sorry about that. Nothing major has happened, thankfully. This unintentional hiatus was the result of life getting priority: weddings, vacations, work, remodels, and things like these. Now that work has stabilized, the remodels have slowed down, and summer vacations have ended, I actually feel the desire and the motivation to write once more.
Throughout my hiatus, I often thought of my work-in-progress novels, my half-finished short stories, my unwritten poems of the heart. Sometimes the words would come and I would try to write, but as soon as I picked up a pen and paper or opened my Scrivener program, they vanished on me and barely a shadow of the idea remained. 😕 Even journaling was difficult. Only big events managed to convince my brain to write them down.
With the struggles of writing, I started to wonder if I could still call myself a writer. I haven't written anything of significance in several months. Of course, I wrote a novel and several poems throughout the years. However, that was all in the past. My current offerings were like a tumbleweed in the wind. I wanted to finish the sequel to Element Unknown. I wanted to continue working on my other novel set in the same universe. I wanted to stretch my creativity with poetry. The desire was there. I just did not have the energy—the motivation—to write.
I mentioned this to my family one night and my Dad gave me this reassurance, "You wrote a book, didn't you? You've written stuff before, right? So, you'll write again. The words will come eventually. Don't be so hard on yourself." I haven't considered that I was being hard on myself, but looking back, I was. I had this guilt that lingered over me whenever I didn't write but instead did something else: read, play a video game, code. I had multiple people asking me about Book II (no rushing, just genuine curiosity) and I felt as if I was letting them down by not having it completed and published by now.
With time, I stopped being so judgemental on myself for having a little fun by gaming, going down a research rabbit hole, or coding. And the words did eventually come. I can proudly say that I am close to finishing my final draft of Book II before sending it to my editor. I rewrote one chapter and heavily edited another to add more tension and I have just a few more aligning edits to make (removing a character, reworking the outcome, etc.). The draft will be complete before the end of the month. 🙌🏾
If you would to learn more about my editing process, be sure to sign up for my newsletter! This will only be the second book I have ever had professionally edited, so I'm still learning a lot myself. I also have made some progress on that other novel in the same universe as Element Unknown. Follow along with me as I work through this draft of a brand new series! In any case, once Book II is much closer to publication, I will update everyone on social media.
It's a great feeling to get back into the swing of things. I promise that it won't be another year before my next blog post. 😉 But have you ever felt an overwhelming desire to do something but lacked the motivation? If so, what got you up and going again? Let me know on Instagram, Twitter/X (whatever people are calling it now 🙄), LinkedIn or any other place you can find me. Until next time!
