To Write or Not to Write?
It isn't even a question...
I’ve been busy lately (hence the delay in this newsletter). I have spent the last six weeks caught up in moving. After four years in Mexico City, I decided to move to the Pacific coast, to the state of Nayarit. I was craving nature and every time I thought about my goals and how I wanted my life to feel, living by the ocean always came up. I started to question why, when living in Mexico, the land of stunning coastlines, I was choosing to live in a big city and not at the beach. There were many reasons of course, but in the end the desire to be by the ocean won out.
But, what has this got to do with writing? It has to do with the fact that due to the move, I have done barely any writing for these last six weeks and I am starting to feel the rub. Don’t get me wrong, I have been working and continuing with book submissions etc etc, but it has been a while since I was caught up in that joyous escapism of creating stories.
In fact, the drought has been longer than six weeks because so much of this year was spent editing my novel. And, although editing has its own joys, there is nothing quite like getting swept away in a story, not quite knowing where it is going to go, being guided by the characters. I miss it and I am not so fully OK when I am not writing or working on a book. Something is missing and I find myself fretting about things that I probably wouldn’t even think about if my monkey mind was occupied making up stories. I am sure you writers and creatives (i.e. everyone) know what I mean, right? I have described before that when I am writing, I feel at once the most connected to myself while also feeling entirely free of myself at the same time. That is a blissful sweet spot.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, I have found living by the ocean incredibly inspiring. Ideas for stories have whipped off the surf into my mind and I have found myself catching the first lines of new novels whispered on the wind. Just watching the flow of the waves drops me into a deeply receptive state where ideas arrive.
A couple of weeks ago, I tentatively started writing the first lines of new novel. It felt good. However, I discovered that my loyalty to my novel that is out on submission is strong. To write new characters, somehow means to let go of the old ones and I am not sure I ready. Mariana and Santi, my main characters are still with me daily, as are all the supporting characters. I think of them all the time, wonder how they are getting on. I feel like Mariana and Santi still need me in a way…. Maybe I am giving myself too much power, maybe now they exist far beyond me, perhaps I am just not so good at letting go?
Anyhow, I know I need to write, so if I am not yet ready to start a new novel just yet, I plan to dabble in some short stories and poetry. I am just going to luxuriate in writing (to borrow a phrase from another writer in my writers’ group), I am going to revel in words, I am going to play with phrasing. I am going to write, because it is so much harder not to, because a part of me is missing when I don’t.
Do you resonate? Are you happier when you are writing? How long can you go without writing before the cracks begin to show? Can you pinpoint the feeling when you are so swept up in writing that nothing else matters? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Mentoring
Now I am all set up in my new space, I am excited to be able to take on new mentoring clients again. Writing doesn’t need to be a solitary endeavour, in fact I believe that finding community around our writing can make for much happier writers. If you are just dipping a tentative toe into the world of writing, or if you have been writing for years but need some support to keep momentum, regain confidence or get your work out into the world, I would love to assist you.
Write as You Are is free to subscribers. If you have found this newsletter helpful, you can show your support by buying me a virtual cuppa or by sharing it with someone else who might also enjoy it. Thank you for reading!
What a lovely article Susannah. Yep, I get grouchy after a week or so - partly because I lose my thread of thought and have to do lots of reading to get back into the right space, and that feels like wasted time. But mainly because it's the thing that I can do in the house, even with the family around, that's just for me. My family know to leave me be for a few hours, and I don't get that peace if I'm cooking, reading, watching a movie... it's become my thing, and I love that. Glad to hear the ocean is giving you lots of inspiration and looking forward to hearing what your next novel will be about. :)