The life of a writer, learning as I go along

[The Masked Scrivener]

Everyone's journey in life is different. It's one thing that makes being human exceptional. That all holds true for the adventure of being a writer. I'm going to tell you all a bit of my journey up to this point in hopes it helps someone that might go through similar situations, and I welcome any advice from those that have gone before me.

After several years of starts and stops, I finally published my first book at the end of 2018. The joy, excitement, and anxiety of investing time and money into producing a book was worth it. Did I sell some books? Yes. Did I end up on a best sellers list? Not even close. Truth be told, I didn't recoup the monetary investment, but that's not a complaint. I'm in this for the long haul and have the goal to write, publish, and repeat for the rest of my life.

What happened was I got in to a funk. It took me twice as long as I expected to get book two out, but I did do it, eventually. Then things got rolling. Writing a series was exciting, and I found myself unable to stop until the entire story was told. I published the fifth and final book in the series at the end of 2019. There I was, an author with five published books, a complete series, and I got it done in about 18 months.

I was on top of the world. Ready to invest in ad spends, marketing lists, and any other form of advertising I could as well as putting out another five books, or longer, series. That brings me to today. More than a year after the fifth book was published and I have not published a single book. In fact, I haven't written another book. Did I give up on writing? Not at all. I plotted a couple of series ideas, world built two of them so far, and put some words down. I just haven't been able to give off my ass and write like I expected. Did the pandemic have something to do with my new funk? Maybe. I went through being laid off from my day job, which should have given me time and motivation, but it didn't. I then got rehired and resumed my day job as a work from home, which is great, but still hasn't gotten me to write more.

All that is to say that I still haven't given up. The last couple of weeks I've put down over 15k words on the series I feel will best motivate me to write. I have a plan to start marketing my first series and increase sales to get a mailing list ready for the new series to be released sometime next year. I'm scared that the funk will delay me, but I'm looking to be more active here on Writer's Sanctum to fight off the funk.

It does disappoint me that I wasted so much time this year. I should have written several books during that time. But that was then, this is now, and now I'm in control of what I do with my time. Like I said in the intro, I hope my tale encourages someone else in a funk to not give up. Also, if you found a good defense against the funk, let me know. I would appreciate as many weapons as I can gather.

Thank you for reading my tale. Merry Christmas, and God bless you all as we attack 2021 and tell our tales.

[alhawke]

I've gotten into funks too where I can't seem to enjoy the project I'm writing. I wrote a third of a book recently and discarded it. Now I'm rejuvenated with interest in reviving a past book I never published. I wish I knew where these funks come from. For me, when I don't have a project I'm excited about, I'm miserable. I much rather be suffering through a book than not have one at all.

If your current 15k book doesn't pan out, perhaps you could create a series based on an offshoot of your 5 book series? That might help excite you.

Whatever the case, best of luck. And, when you think about it--although in the indie world publishing often can be the norm for some writers--writers have taken years to write books. Like ... well, authors like George R.R. Martin comes to mind.

[Vijaya]

Thanks, Masked Scriverner. It's pretty amazing that anybody can write 5 books in 18 mo. I'm a slow writer when it comes to the novel. It's quite possible you simply had to refill your well. And any major life change can wreck the writing habit, so I'm not surprised you were in a funk.

I work on multiple projects so when I'm stuck in one, I work on another. If I'm in a complete funk, it's much harder but I turn to free-writing and usually after a couple of weeks of this, I'm settled into something else. I also find other creative pursuits like playing piano, singing, putzing in the garden or cooking stoking the fire for writing. And reading! Always stories beget more stories.

I'm recovering from shoulder surgery and for 2 months couldn't do much of anything. There were days when all I could do was scrawl with my left hand (or type) if I was desperate enough to jot down a few thoughts. I really hope that after the Christmas festivities I can settle into a good writing routine. Music has really sustained me during this time, esp. this recording of Handel's Messiah by Voces8:

  Enjoy! Merry Christmas! 

[T. M. Bilderback]

Everyone has these funks from time to time.

Try to stay focused on writing. Set a word goal for each day. You don't have to write in your current series if you don't want to! Sometimes, it helps to write something totally away from your series to encourage the word flow and the ideas.

Don't give up. Reach down inside yourself, and send those fingers flying over the keyboard!

[Jeff Tanyard]

I've also had a seriously "down" year for a variety of reasons, so I'm right there with ya, man.

In an effort to get out of my own head, I've tried to do more hands-on stuff like woodworking and metalworking.  The things I'm making are crap, but they're mine, and they get me away from the worlds--both real and fictional--for a little while.

Here's to a more productive 2021 for everyone.   

[notthatamanda]

Being productive is very helpful to me. I started a chainsaw bunny a couple of weeks ago. If the weather clears I'll drag him out again. I switched from sewing masks to making hair scrunchies. I'm hoping the county fair board will accept them as a donation to sell at the general store, if we can have a fair in August. If not, I don't know, Etsy maybe. I also painted a Grinch for my neighbor as a gift and am going to make my favorite dogs coats. I straightened out the prepper pantry. I still have the basement and extra bedroom to work on but I haven't been highly motivated. I've got a couple of decorative painting projects I could do, but haven't gotten to yet.

I love my power sander so I should look for some projects where I can do a lot of sanding. Maybe just making pine stump stools or something. My word working tools are pretty crappy but I did make an owl box and a chickadee box, both of which remain uninhabited. I'll take ideas for sanding intense projects. There's something really satisfying about taking the rough wood and turning into something velvety soft to the touch.

I've had two afternoons this month where I had to get back into bed and stay there for a couple of hours until the worst feelings passed.

  I'm going to err on the side of caution and say "Here's to 2021 not being any worse."

[LilyBLily]

Do not underestimate the blow of being laid off. Also don't underestimate the secret disappointment because your first books did not set the world on fire, or even the realization that this writing and publishing thing is endless work, some of which is not much fun. It takes time to recover from blows.

I'm sure that even those people who build ships inside bottles using tweezers have their moments of not wanting to do it. One thing our American culture doesn't give us is an easy way to be kind to ourselves in these moments. Our world is all about go-go-go. Yet, unless you already have a contract in your hand, there is no writing deadline or obligation. Comparisons to twenty-year-olds ghostwriting four books a month--or to anyone else who has turned an art into a factory product--are pointless.

It's natural after a great achievement to want to rest on our laurels for a bit. It's good to refill the well of creativity with other activities. What you describe as a funk is the natural resistance that our first enthusiasm often overcomes. That resistance shows up for every writer, and each one has a different way of combating it. The first excitement of actually doing this may have faded for you, but in its stead you surely know that you will achieve your writing goal. That's a huge step beyond where you were before writing and publishing your first books. That confidence is now built into your approach to your writing, even if you don't realize it consciously. You know you can do this.

Of course there is the question: Why bother? We each answer it differently.

 

[Jeff Tanyard]

I love my power sander so I should look for some projects where I can do a lot of sanding. Maybe just making pine stump stools or something. My word working tools are pretty crappy but I did make an owl box and a chickadee box, both of which remain uninhabited. I'll take ideas for sanding intense projects. There's something really satisfying about taking the rough wood and turning into something velvety soft to the touch.

Remember that young sweetgum tree I cut down a few weeks ago?  Well, I kept the logs and turned a couple of them into a wooden mallet.  Just finished that up this week.  If you don't have a wooden mallet, or a set of different sized mallets, then there's an idea for you.  I made the mallet head out of a single block of wood, but an easier way--and probably a better way--is to use store lumber and make a laminated head.  For example:

And if you really want to turn wood into sawdust in a hurry, I suggest an angle grinder with a flap disk.  That's what I used for the bulk of the mallet job.  (I don't have a band saw, which would have been the better tool for it.)

Like I said, the things I'm making are crap.  They'll never win any beauty contests.  But as long as they function, then I'm calling it "mission accomplished."  And it does give me a sense of accomplishment to create a tangible thing that works as intended.  My mallet is flawed all to hell, but I'm ready to hammer with it.  The shelf I built this summer was warped from the beginning, and recently it has flexed and broken the wood filler at a few of the seams, but it still holds my stuff and it doesn't wobble.  I'm building useful things, and I'm managing to keep my sanity in the process.  That's a win for me.   

[Lorri Moulton]

It's difficult to be inspired when we're worrying about so many things.  I've been doing tons of research, which takes me out of my own reality for a little while.  I'll write the stories eventually.

[notthatamanda]

I love my power sander so I should look for some projects where I can do a lot of sanding. Maybe just making pine stump stools or something. My word working tools are pretty crappy but I did make an owl box and a chickadee box, both of which remain uninhabited. I'll take ideas for sanding intense projects. There's something really satisfying about taking the rough wood and turning into something velvety soft to the touch.

Remember that young sweetgum tree I cut down a few weeks ago?  Well, I kept the logs and turned a couple of them into a wooden mallet.  Just finished that up this week.  If you don't have a wooden mallet, or a set of different sized mallets, then there's an idea for you.  I made the mallet head out of a single block of wood, but an easier way--and probably a better way--is to use store lumber and make a laminated head.  For example:

And if you really want to turn wood into sawdust in a hurry, I suggest an angle grinder with a flap disk.  That's what I used for the bulk of the mallet job.  (I don't have a band saw, which would have been the better tool for it.)

Like I said, the things I'm making are crap.  They'll never win any beauty contests.  But as long as they function, then I'm calling it "mission accomplished."  And it does give me a sense of accomplishment to create a tangible thing that works as intended.  My mallet is flawed all to hell, but I'm ready to hammer with it.  The shelf I built this summer was warped from the beginning, and recently it has flexed and broken the wood filler at a few of the seams, but it still holds my stuff and it doesn't wobble.  I'm building useful things, and I'm managing to keep my sanity in the process.  That's a win for me.   

We should have a crap off. I swear I've got a specific defect that makes is impossible for me to hammer a nail in straight ever.

Making something from scratch is the best feeling ever. I'm mature enough to realize I can always improve, except maybe on that nail thing, and I don't need it to be perfect. I'll think about the mallets. Thanks.

[The Masked Scrivener]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I appreciate it.