I Have Hit The "Wall"
Project: Demon Protege
Word Count: 18,129
(still haven't worked on my second project this month. Already thinking I should push it off to December and focus on Demon Protege.)
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Full transparency - I haven't stuck to my writing schedule at all. We are 17 days in and I've sat down to write only 7 of those days. Why the lack of consistency you may ask?
Well, for starters, as I may have mentioned, my financial reserve ran out in October. I knew things were headed south in September and thus began applying for jobs. Silly me, I thought it would take a month, maybe two before I landed a job making what I was making before or higher. You see, I'm damn good at what I do and just knew there'd be an office in dire need of my services. After all, there's the Great Resignation happening. Surely there would be an abundance of hiring managers anxious to fill all these open positions, right?
Not so much. I've gotten to second interviews on a couple of jobs but that was at the end of October. I haven't heard from either one since. I've been applying for jobs consistently since September and other than those two, aforementioned ghosts, it's been crickets or out right "No".
While I'm not in danger of being homeless, I do feel way less secure and confident in my ability to make a living doing what I love. I mean, I've sold one book in all of 2022. One. And while I maintain my confidence in my ability to write a good story, I have lost all faith in my ability to market and sell said story. Consequently I'm back to thinking, "what's the use in writing anything new if I'm not going to be able to sell it?"
And thus, I've hit the wall in my writing. That point where self-doubt is eating me alive and blocking the channel through which my characters and Muse communicate with me. What's a writer to do?
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3 Simple Ways to Get Past Writing Blocks
Address the stress head on. Get clear on what's got you blocked, then WORK to resolve it, at least temporarily, for the rest of the month (or year at this point). For me this means solidifying my finances through to the end of the year. I've got one last reserve I can tap into. Once I do that, then I know I'm okay till the end of January.
Meditate. I know it sounds crazy but sometimes the best way to get through a Block is to get quiet and just listen to the many thoughts (or in my case voices) in your head. Yes, you will encounter some nonsense; yes, your inner critic may, at first, be the loudest voice you hear. But if you let all of that flow through, you may also see ways to fill plot holes, or get glimpses of settings for your next chapter. You don't have to sit for any major length of time either. I find that two minutes of silence with my draft open and my fingers resting lightly on the keyboard gets me into the writing mood and I'm able to bang out the day's word count goal in about an hour, hour and a half.
Ask for help. If you can't wrap the Block up in a neat little package yourself, then ask for help: talk to a counselor, a mentor, a good (sane, rational, non-toxic) friend; reach out to an expert...ask for help with a solution and then put that solution into place.
Side Note - I'd love to help you strategize your way through to self-published
Click HERE to book your 90 minute one-on-one.
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Alright, enough procrastinating. I'm off to practice what I've preached. How's your writing going? Let me know in the comments.
Until next time, sending light and inspiration,
Dana