I’m not sure what to call the last few months. Was it giving up writing, or was it just taking a break? In any case, I’ve abandoned the novel I was writing. I don’t know what was wrong with it, other than it just felt wrong, and it wasn’t getting anywhere. I was writing it just to be able to say I was writing it. I thought it was something I could just push through.
I tried really hard, but I’m just not ready to write that novel yet. I’ll have to come back to it some day.
So what else did I do? Well, for several days, even weeks, nothing at all. Then I started world-building for an RPG campaign I want to run for my daughter and her friends. It wasn’t exactly the most exciting writing I’ve done, but it was fun. I’ve learned a few things from my last world, too, and built in much more conflict–and much more unexplored world to…well, explore.
Next I wrote a short story I want to submit to an upcoming anthology. It needed work, so I set it aside for a little while to come back to it fresh. It needed even more work when I came back to it this last week, so I rewrote at least half of it. It’s still not satisfactory, but it’s been fun to write. That’s a good sign. It’s due tonight. I’ve already committed myself to submitting it–enough to say I did in a post for another site coming out tomorrow.
So what’s next? Another project I started and set aside is starting to seem really fun again. I’ve had a few more ideas for it that should make it more interesting, and I have a better idea now just how much preparation I need to make before I can start over on it. This one is feeling a little more “do-able” than the one I got stuck on.
I guess the good news is that I didn’t really give up writing. But perhaps it’s sometimes good to step away for a while. It turns out I missed it and had to come back.
“I’ve learned a few things from my last world, too, and built in much more conflict–and much more unexplored world to…well, explore.”
I approve.
And smiles over-all.