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I have been feeling a bit down in the dumps, dear reader. Well, quite a lot down in the dumps if I am honest. I have been waking up feeling blue, ungrounded and not quite sure what to do with myself. It could be seasonal, the rainy season means the mornings are often overcast and sometimes it rains a lot, and when it isn’t raining it is so hot that you turn into a puddle just popping to the corner shop for a sparkly water to cool down. But I don’t think it is that.
I do think it is seasonal, but I think it is about writing seasons rather than nature’s seasons. I think I am feeling like this because I am not working on a novel. I’ve had so much fun writing short stories and I want to keep writing them, but I think I am edgy because my mind wants to get stuck into the deep spaces of a novel. It’s been almost a year since I finished the last one and I am ready to be held by the next one, to have a story take up all the extra space in my mind that I will otherwise use to make up less enjoyable stories or to worry about things I can do nothing about.
I have had this feeling before, before I started my second novel and I also had it before I started my first (but then it was worse because it was a whole lifetime of wanting to write a novel that came to a head). Now, I see the signs; despondency, irritability, a little low-level anxiety, looking externally for answers and I know what it means; “Get started on a novel, please. Give your mind something to create.”
Do you understand this feeling? Do you understand Elizabeth Gilbert when she says, “If I am not actively creating something, then I am probably actively destroying something?” Or Marti Leimbach who says, “If I am not writing, I am this miserable wretch?” I definitely relate and I know so many other writers that do too. It doesn’t always mean you have to be writing a novel, that part can differ depending on your craft, but for me these are the tell-tale signs that a book is itching to be born.
So, this week my friends I am deciding which of two novel ideas I am going to run with. One is very zeitgeisty, while the other is pretty evergreen but gives me a really lovely feeling in my stomach when I think about it. I’m going to decide and get writing. Then I may not mention it again for a while as I sneak around in a novel writing affair, hopefully waking up excited for a day sneaking pockets of writing, rather than feeling gloomy about the morning skies.
Do you have tell-tale signs that you need to be creating? How do they show up for you? Do you notice them quicker these days or are they still a bit of a mystery? Share in the comments.
Recommendations
Article: The Courage to Write: On the Radical Generosity of Letting Yourself be Seen- This is a beautiful article. The title says it all.
Newsletter: I haven’t said much about where I am at with querying my novel but let’s just say this newsletter by Agents and Books was incredibly helpful. If you currently have your manuscript out with agents you will probably find this and many of the other newsletters by Kate McKean to be a great support. If you are not quite at querying stage I still recommend signing up so you can understand the publishing industry more.
Video: The old adage ‘Show Don’t Tell’ gets bandied about a lot in writing circles. It isn’t always the case that showing is better than telling but this video is one I share a lot with clients to help them get a clearer understanding of the difference.
Mentoring
I feel so honoured to be working with truly wonderful and inspiring writers, helping them bring projects to completion or rebuild their confidence with the craft.
If you want 2022 to be the year that you (re) find your writing voice or that you really move forward with a project that has got stuck, there is still plenty of time and I would love to hear from you.
Writing is magic and I truly believe that in writing we are trying to answers the questions we have about life on the page. I am so grateful when I can be a conduit in guiding my clients back to their inner storyteller.
If you would like support with your writing, please get in touch or book in for a free twenty minute consultation, to see if I am the right person to help you.
Seasonal Sadness