When Inspiration isn't Enough.
How this writer is finding her way back...
Sometimes you just need a change.
A massive, blow-up-your-past-ways kind of change.
For so long I have been running on auto-pilot, checking the boxes, and planning ahead. But then 2023 happened, and while it was definitely a year of massive change, it was also one where I found myself floundering with words like I never had before.
It’s been over a year since I’ve written anything worth looking at, and while that is a blow to the ego, it’s also a really good wake-up call for me.
Inspiration and motivation seemed to run dry and I didn’t know if I even wanted to write anymore. For someone who has always found solace in the words, it’s remarkable how humbling it is when you have nothing to say.
No stories to tell.
No funny dialog to jot down.
No characters to throw to the wolves, and then rescue.
It’s weird to think that a whole year has gone by and I have nothing ‘literary’ to show for it. Again, humbling is the only word I can use that feels right.
And to be honest, no one really seemed to care but me. I have to tell myself to keep my ego in check and maybe it doesn’t matter if I never write another word again for public consumption.
Maybe, my journal is the only place where the words will flow.
That would be okay, if that little voice inside me didn’t keep shouting, “Ass in seat - fingers on the keyboard.” So, I decided to do what my writer self would’ve done fifteen years ago… start over with something new.
Reinvent.
Recreate.
Write what you know and hang out with characters you love.
I mean… what else am I going to do? I’m a writer at heart, and it really doesn’t matter who reads these words. The important part is to just write them and move onto the next project.
I’ve done this so many times and have yet to create a lasting change. As I was thinking about it today, I had to ask myself where I went off the rails. If I’m going to make changes, I at least need to know what the roadblocks are and what happened.
Long story short—I focused only on the outcomes. I stopped caring about the process and the utter joy writing posts like this brings me. Creating in a space like this is my first true love, so I’m going to try and do more of it. I have no idea where it will lead, but that is the best part—anything is possible again.
I’m not done with novels just yet… just looking for inspiration in old places.
When the old process isn’t working, it’s time for a new one.
That’s all I have for you today, but already playing with another idea for the next one.
Stay tuned… and until then, read something fabulous.
xo, mj