Creative Captive

I had a revelation after our January SCBWI meeting: I’ve been punishing myself. I’ve been holding my creativity captive; not allowing myself to explore new stories and ideas. Why?

Because I have at least four solid manuscripts that are mid-revision, in a state of uncertainty. They’re no longer finished. So, how can I start a new project when so many unfinished projects hang in the balance?

It’s like Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall. “How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat!”

Still, no matter how hard I’ve tried, I’m having difficulty carrying these revisions to the proverbial finish line. I must have locked in to this restrictive mentality sometime in December…

The stakes seem higher. I couldn’t/shouldn’t stray from these tasks. I need to do the work.

But something’s been missing lately. I’ve been lacking that magic. You know the kind. Where things miraculously fall into place and the words just flow and it’s effortless. And there’s a little adrenaline involved, so your heart is pumping and your brain is churning out one quip after another and it’s just magic. It’s happened that way pretty much every manuscript…so why is my well dry? Where has my magic gone?

I’m not sure. But what I now know…it’s not going to get better unless I let me creativity back out to play. Enter #StoryStorm 2023.

Only a few entries in, I noticed how much I was enjoying the posts with their tips and tricks, but I was mentally bookmarking them. “Oh, I’ll come back to this someday.” So much so, I went and red flagged them in my email. It was very intentional. Like I knew this was good advice…but not advice for today?! Poppycock!

Thank goodness that my SCBWI evening helped me unlock and burst through this silly thinking. It wasn’t any one conversation or comment…perhaps it was just being back together. Their collective wisdom was the key.

Yesterday, I dove back in on revisions, sure… But I also entertained the whimsy of those red flagged posts. Today, I fiddled with an Idiom website and even made a list of some burgeoning ideas, which brought me real satisfaction and joy.

Here’s to hoping I’m back on the right track and my well is on it’s way to replenishment!

Thank you, Tara Lazar and #StoryStorm, for your significant contribution in this writer’s life!