Back on the Writing Road Again. My last post “Writer’s Life Resolution Time” urged us to assess what we carry in our kit bags that will support our writing lives into the new year. I was not suggesting we cease all motion to perform this assessment but that is what happened to me. I should also have resolved not to get Covid. But I did.
Suddenly I was No Longer Motivated to Do Anything. I dropped out of the flow of my usual life. All I felt capable of was rest. All I wanted was to heal. As human beings we each experience times when recuperation – both physical and mental – is more crucial than work. The past month has been that kind of time for me.
Meanwhile – though I Avoided Brain Fog – I Experienced a Bad Case of Purpose Fog. I was disoriented. My weakened body forced me to do nothing. Even my certainty of what I should be doing slipped away – what I should be doing during Covid or post-Covid or anytime.
The Need to Take Care of Myself and Return to Health was Clear. But my work direction fell into shadow. Day after day turned into week after week. Still the shadow refused to lift. I longed to emerge into the light of certainty again but could not manage to do so.
One of my Career Mentors – Stephen King – offers Advice for such a Situation. He says – Sit yourself down and write as much as you can as well as you can. I ask – But what about those times when you are unable to accomplish that? The way I was unable to get Back on the Writing Road Again.
I Think of Mr. King in his own Horrible Health Crisis. Mowed down on the roadside by a rampaging driver. His leg encased in a medieval-style torture device. Confined to a back hallway. Sweating out a record-breaking heatwave with only a small oscillating fan as relief. He wrote the wonderful book On Writing.
Here is a Very Important Thing this Past Month has Taught Me. I applaud Stephen King and I admire him but I do not have to be him. None of us has to be him. We only have to be ourselves within our own minds and our own bodies and our own capabilities.
I have Finally Emerged from my Purpose Fog. My purpose is to Do the Best I Can. This is a strong standard to live by in our writing lives and in our daily lives. Most important this is an appropriate standard to expect of ourselves if we seek to be healthy individuals. And this is precisely what we should seek and expect.
Here is What it Means to Do Your Writerly Best. Think like a writer. Run snatches of dialog through your mind. Put sentences together to describe the scenes you happen upon in your day-to-day life and in your imagined life. Write all of that down if you can. Do not worry about it if you cannot.
I have Spent too Much of My Life Beating Myself Up with my Own Expectations. Maybe you have too. How about we start taking better care of ourselves instead? If your body urges you to rest – Rest. Then rise up to write another day. I promise you that day will come and you will be Back on the Writing Road Again.
Alice Orr Says – You Possess Storytelling Magic. Keep on Writing Whatever May Occur. https://www.aliceorrbooks.com.
Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know – in your writing work and in your writer’s life? Ask your question in the Comments section at the end of this post.
Alice Orr has published 14 novels, 3 novellas and a memoir so far. She wrote her nonfiction book No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells as a gift to the writers’ community she loves. Her novel – A Year of Summer Shadows – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 2 – is a available HERE.
Praise for A Year of Summer Shadows: “Alice keeps you wanting to read faster, then when you finish the last page, you want more.” “Orr’s characters come alive on the page.” “A Year of Summer Shadows has moved up to one of my favorite books.”
All of Alice’s Books are HERE.
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Loved your journey’s recap, Alice, and it all rings true. Those halcyon days of self-publishing are gone, so we’ve got to bring our A-game. Looking forward to more of your tips and thoughts. While Kayelle is your model, I’m finding your path quite delightful and fun to follow.
Hi Mary. The journey is the thing as they say. Especially the journey of a publishing career. Challenges come to us from every side including from ourselves. The goal of course is to learn and grow as we proceed. Always bringing the A game is one those lessons we must commit to heart and follow. There is nothing wrong with writing just for fun and personal satisfaction. In fact I hope everybody is allowing themselves a strong dose of both. However for those of us who seek to put our stories out into the world the A-game principle is an imperative. Anything less will not do the trick. Anything less will not capture the readership we desire and need. So here’s the A-Game players. May we live long and prosper. I look forward to seeing you here again. And thanks for reminding me that I am sharing the story of my own career path – especially the delightful fun aspects. Blessings. Alice
Dear Mary. You have commented on my blog posts in the past. I invite you to explore my most recent series. It is titled “Oh No I’m a Caregiver – Dementia – Our Cautionary Story.” These posts are of special significance to me. Dementia appears to be a reality destined to assault all of our lives in one way or another eventually. I believe that the story I have to tell – through my initial post and others yet to come at https://www.aliceorrbooks.com – has valuable insights to offer. For this reason, I hope you will read it and pass it on to others so that they might benefit from what I am learning and from those insights.
For example… My husband Jonathan, who has recently been diagnosed with dementia, is actually quite fine at this early stage. He is engaged in lots of cognitively powerful activities. He writes original memoir pieces that are very good and says this is the result of sitting in on so many of my writing workshops over the past forty-five years. He now finds more joy in writing than the drawing and music that were his usual creative pursuits in the past. This is good because, as you know, portraying characters and composing scenes require a deep level of focus and detail concentration which is very beneficial for him. He also loves jigsaw puzzling – the 1500-piece variety. Again much concentration is required plus he has fond memory associations of doing puzzles with his mom when he was a boy. He also reads a lot – challenging books, as well as his favorite New York Times articles. He does regular physical exercise and has also begun gardening at our church which has a large planted space in sore need of attention. Medically, he is taking a basic drug that has disappeared his brain fog for the timebeing. We also have excellent medical professionals on our team and on our side.
Dementia is not like the tv commercials portray it to be. Their purpose is to ramp up fear and sell very expensive, very dangerous drugs. There is a long, gradual period before extreme changes begin, and the aggressiveness these ads emphasize can often be mitigated with simple mood medications that are harmless and affordable.
Meanwhile, there is a real-life story to be told here of real-life experience. I hope you will read and share it. Dementia is a reality for many of us and, unfortunately, promises to be a reality for many more. Truth is our best armor against being cast into despair by the prospect. I hope to add a little to that sustaining truth. Dementia is one of the many ways all of us will evolve from this life into whatever may lay beyond. Passing on is our universal destiny. Some of those passages involve discomfort and unpleasantness. We can perhaps be a bit better prepared if we understand realistically what to expect.
That is what our story – Jonathan’s and mine – is meant to do. Help others – in an honest and caring fashion – to be prepared. Love and Blessings. Alice
Great blog Alice – taking time for healing is so important. And listening to one’s own body as to when you are ready to again take action seems right to me. Thanks for the pearls of wisdom.
Hi Cathleen. Healing is such a huge priority for all of us. Which includes healing of our creative selves. That essential aspect of what makes us tick as storytellers can grow just as tired as the rest of us – even more so sometimes. We can get so down imaginatively that we fear we have lost the knack that means close to everything to us as writers. We regularly require not only self-care but soul-care. We owe ourselves that. I hope we will all try our best to keep this debt-to-self paid in full. Love and Blessings. Alice
Dear Cathleen. You have commented on my blog posts in the past. I invite you to explore my most recent series. It is titled “Oh No I’m a Caregiver – Dementia – Our Cautionary Story.” These posts are of special significance to me. Dementia appears to be a reality destined to assault all of our lives in one way or another eventually. I believe that the story I have to tell – through my initial post and others yet to come at https://www.aliceorrbooks.com – has valuable insights to offer. For this reason, I hope you will read it and pass it on to others so that they might benefit from what I am learning and from those insights.
For example… My husband Jonathan, who has recently been diagnosed with dementia, is actually quite fine at this early stage. He is engaged in lots of cognitively powerful activities. He writes original memoir pieces that are very good and says this is the result of sitting in on so many of my writing workshops over the past forty-five years. He now finds more joy in writing than the drawing and music that were his usual creative pursuits in the past. This is good because, as you know, portraying characters and composing scenes require a deep level of focus and detail concentration which is very beneficial for him. He also loves jigsaw puzzling – the 1500-piece variety. Again much concentration is required plus he has fond memory associations of doing puzzles with his mom when he was a boy. He also reads a lot – challenging books, as well as his favorite New York Times articles. He does regular physical exercise and has also begun gardening at our church which has a large planted space in sore need of attention. Medically, he is taking a basic drug that has disappeared his brain fog for the timebeing. We also have excellent medical professionals on our team and on our side.
Dementia is not like the tv commercials portray it to be. Their purpose is to ramp up fear and sell very expensive, very dangerous drugs. There is a long, gradual period before extreme changes begin, and the aggressiveness these ads emphasize can often be mitigated with simple mood medications that are harmless and affordable.
Meanwhile, there is a real-life story to be told here of real-life experience. I hope you will read and share it. Dementia is a reality for many of us and, unfortunately, promises to be a reality for many more. Truth is our best armor against being cast into despair by the prospect. I hope to add a little to that sustaining truth. Dementia is one of the many ways all of us will evolve from this life into whatever may lay beyond. Passing on is our universal destiny. Some of those passages involve discomfort and unpleasantness. We can perhaps be a bit better prepared if we understand realistically what to expect.
That is what our story – Jonathan’s and mine – is meant to do. Help others – in an honest and caring fashion – to be prepared. Love and Blessings. Alice
Hi Alice, I know the feeling well! I haven’t published since 2019 and have several unfinished manuscripts. But happy to report that I plan to finish my rom-com by the end of February. It’s been a godsend taking that time to rejuvenate. Wishing you well, my friend!
Hey LG. I understand how these hiatus periods can happen. For many reasons. Happy to hear you are back in storytelling mode again. I hope your rom-con is progressing apace. You are such a good writer with things to say and stories to tell that deserve to be told. Love and Blessings. Alice
Dear L.G. You have commented on my blog posts in the past. I invite you to explore my most recent series. It is titled “Oh No I’m a Caregiver – Dementia – Our Cautionary Story.” These posts are of special significance to me. Dementia appears to be a reality destined to assault all of our lives in one way or another eventually. I believe that the story I have to tell – through my initial post and others yet to come at https://www.aliceorrbooks.com – has valuable insights to offer. For this reason, I hope you will read it and pass it on to others so that they might benefit from what I am learning and from those insights.
For example… My husband Jonathan, who has recently been diagnosed with dementia, is actually quite fine at this early stage. He is engaged in lots of cognitively powerful activities. He writes original memoir pieces that are very good and says this is the result of sitting in on so many of my writing workshops over the past forty-five years. He now finds more joy in writing than the drawing and music that were his usual creative pursuits in the past. This is good because, as you know, portraying characters and composing scenes require a deep level of focus and detail concentration which is very beneficial for him. He also loves jigsaw puzzling – the 1500-piece variety. Again much concentration is required plus he has fond memory associations of doing puzzles with his mom when he was a boy. He also reads a lot – challenging books, as well as his favorite New York Times articles. He does regular physical exercise and has also begun gardening at our church which has a large planted space in sore need of attention. Medically, he is taking a basic drug that has disappeared his brain fog for the timebeing. We also have excellent medical professionals on our team and on our side.
Dementia is not like the tv commercials portray it to be. Their purpose is to ramp up fear and sell very expensive, very dangerous drugs. There is a long, gradual period before extreme changes begin, and the aggressiveness these ads emphasize can often be mitigated with simple mood medications that are harmless and affordable.
Meanwhile, there is a real-life story to be told here of real-life experience. I hope you will read and share it. Dementia is a reality for many of us and, unfortunately, promises to be a reality for many more. Truth is our best armor against being cast into despair by the prospect. I hope to add a little to that sustaining truth. Dementia is one of the many ways all of us will evolve from this life into whatever may lay beyond. Passing on is our universal destiny. Some of those passages involve discomfort and unpleasantness. We can perhaps be a bit better prepared if we understand realistically what to expect.
That is what our story – Jonathan’s and mine – is meant to do. Help others – in an honest and caring fashion – to be prepared. Love and Blessings. Alice
I’ve been coming to the same conclusions recently. Glad to see you have too.
I am always pleased to be on the same page with you Kayelle. Alice