I haven’t written anything since August. Partly because I haven’t really had any blogging ideas and partly because when I have tried to write something timely, I’ve received error messages making me unable to complete or publish a post. I’m hoping that I can actually write and publish what I want to today. I’m using my work computer to draft this which, while not ideal, might help me pin down the origin of the error message (it seems like it might be my computer).

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Since I last updated, novel writing went super well . . . until it didn’t. I think the culprit was stress related to the U.S. election. Whatever the cause, by the end of fall my writing felt distracted and the amount I managed to pen during my writing hours seemed like a drip from a faucet that had previously been on full flow. I carried on, holding out my creative cup to catch the paltry sustenance. And I’m glad I did because I needed to be ready for when the water was turned back on.

I can say it feels like a dam of pent up creative ideas has burst. And I’m going to ride this wave because my career depends on it. Remember how my last post was on prioritizing your core life goals? Well, I’ve felt quite the shift in my goals. Maybe it’s a realization that the publishing industry wants to publish people who are more than just writers, so I need something substantial beyond writing books and blog posts. But, really, I think it’s the zeal I get from interacting with other writers online, be they denizens of the Authortube sphere or fellow Lit Fic authors in my Facebook group. The social isolation has likely shaped this realization. Though a similar realization was likely to arise even without the pandemic-imposed isolation.

There are various projects in the works. I don’t want to dump all of them here at once, so I’ll be drippling them out over the next several weeks. What I want to address is how this post and my last post aren’t contradictory even though I’m adding enough stuff to my plate that I’m going to need an hourly planner.

My life goal is to be a writer. But I need to be a writer in 2020’s, not the 1980’s or even 90’s. The field has changed, the reality is that the markers of success have evolved. Traditional publishing isn’t everything. And while I’ve already dipped my toes into the various aspects of the defining feature of today’s world (THE INTERNET), I haven’t committed to it in a way that has done anything more than brought me some limited exposure. I want to build something. Something for writers and readers. Something that I can call a central part of my career.

I’m sort of in love with my ideas. Infatuated with the work I’ve set before myself. It aligns with my core life goals because those goals have shifted . . . just a little bit. I no longer feel like I’m in survival mode, but I feel like I’ve shifted to a “Let’s get thriving” mode. And what I’m setting up to create is something I can take with me anywhere, even if other large and life-changing events should come along. In fact, being that what I’m building will be a core part of my career, it might make any changes or unexpected additions to my life easier. I’ll have a sustainable core that is a part of my writing and the writing community even when changes in life’s circumstances inevitably happen. And that’s just awesome.

Do tell me how you’ve been surviving, thriving, and what your plans for 2021 look like.

Until next time, write on.

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All photos from Pixabay unless otherwise stated.