Taking a real break
Life in General, Writing|I’ll be honest, it’s no real secret that I’ve been feeling a little despondent with my writing of late and then the other night I realised I just need a break. About four years ago I started to wonder when I was going to have a larger writing credit so I decided to sit down and ‘make’ it happen. I tracked down a market I wanted to write for and attempted to write a novel. Not a first draft that would just sit waiting for me to finish it (yes, I have a few of those) but something I would finish and send off.
That particular book is sitting on my computer and I hope to finish it this year. Okay, even with the best of intentions we don’t always keep to our resolutions first time around. The second book I wrote and submitted. I was overcome with the feeling that if they didn’t accept this I was ready to pick up the PC and throw the sodding thing out of the window and to hell with writing. Saying that, even as it crossed my mind I knew I wouldn’t. I knew when the refusal came in (not if — despite feeling 99% sure they would take it, 1% of me remained convinced it would never happen), I’d sit down and try again. Writers have to be determined, or is that stubborn? I’m not sure there’s a difference any more.
That book was Uly’s Comet and within two days my wonderful editor on that book, Lorri-Lynne *waves*, asked to see the whole manuscript. A month later I received a contract. Yayyyy!
Since then…Yes, since then I’ve been busy, busy, busy. I just didn’t realise how busy. I keep a biography of work and I looked through what I’ve done since I first had the idea to Uly’s Comet. Look at this little list published over the last three years and most of the articles were written to order, plus the longer works were all written from scratch. To some it will seem like a lot, to others not, but personally I’m exhausted:
Article: The Cutting Edge of Today’s Packaging, April 2005
Brief: Circle of Life - introduction written for The Really Wild Nursery updated garden project, 2005
Short Story: Bone Picker (Bone Dance Series), July 2005
Article: The Grimm Truth, November 2005
Article: Tis the Season, December 2005
Short Story: Silver Apples of the Moon (reprint), December 2005
Essay: My Wild City (reprint), February 2006
Poem: Scourge, February 2006
Essay: A’La Mode, March 2006
Essay: Smell the Flowers, July 2006
Novel: The Swithin Chronicles 1: Uly’s Comet, Aug 2006
Novelette: Rose Light, Aspen Mountain Press, Sept 2006
Novel: Snow Angel, Dec 2006
Article: Back to Basics, Dec/Jan 2006/07
Article: m/m symbols, Jan 2007
Article: The Syndicate and Hard Candy Review, Jan 2007
Poem: The Roman Seasons, April 2007
Novelette: ‘Space, Man’, April 2007
Essay: Amatorius, May 2007
Article: Taking Civil Liberties, May 2007
Article: Two Countries Divided by a Common Language, 2007
Short Story: Degrees of Sickness, May/June 2007
Novella: Angel Heart, Aug 2007
Short Story: Effigy in Garnet, Sept 2007
Novelette: A Slow Fuzzy Screw, Sept 2007
Novel: The Comet’s Tail (Swithin Chronicles Book 2), Oct 2007
Short Story: The Teacher, Oct 2007
Flash Fiction: He Looks My Way, Aug/Sept 2007
Novel: The Comet Cometh (Swithin Chronicles 3), April 2008
Article: Learning by Experience: Probate, April/May 2008
I’ve also written a short story for a possible anthology and the first drafts of a 30,000 word novella, and a m/m/f romance/sci-fi novel. Plus during all this my father died.
I need a break!
April 30th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Enjoy your break! Don’t think about work. You’ve been too busy. I’m really surprised about how close all the dates on that list are.
May 1st, 2008 at 6:58 am
Thanks. I am taking a couple of books to read and a notebook. Sorry — writer. Might get an idea and I need to jot it down. See, writers never take time off. LOL.
Most of the articles are for the same market. I write for a West Country community news. Sometimes I come up with articles myself and sometimes they drop a request into my lap, at short notice. Oh wait, that makes them just like any publisher.
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:41 am
Have a good one Sharon, you deserve it
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:13 am
You try to tell people writing is work they don’t believe you. Thanks for the nice message. I’m off in…oh, about four hours.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:48 am
You can be doing the job you love, but it’s still a job at the end of the day
May 12th, 2008 at 8:19 am
LOL. There are a few people I would love you to talk to.
I’m back and have a zillion things waiting for my attention.