So we talked about my earliest experiences with writing, but where am I right now? As of writing this, I have submitted a handful of short stories for publication – all rejected without feedback. I have a complete manuscript of my science fiction novel. I have submitted it to agents – rejected every time. I got some limited feedback, and then I stalled out.
A pandemic happened, y’all.
My work world descended into pure chaos without respite.
I am eighteen months into a new job, and my brain fog is finally lifting. I joined a critique workshop to work on my novel manuscript, so now, I am deep in the world of revision and loving every minute of this process.
My spark has returned, the creativity that drove me for years. There were times over the past six years that I feared that spark had abandoned me forever. My mental health was at its lowest point since I fell into the depths of post-partum depression.
Writing had always pulled me through those times, but I had felt empty. Nothing would flow onto paper. I tried every trick I could think of just to get my pen moving, but I all found was despair.
Some other time I will devote a post (or series of posts) to my process of crawling out of that pit in hopes it helps someone else, but for now, it’s enough to know that I am very newly on the other side of that mess.
My next steps moving forward include this very blog and hopefully publishing stories to this site regularly. Meanwhile I have joined a challenge with my local writing collective to keep submitting short stories this year (more on that in a separate post), revise my science fiction manuscript to go back out to agents, and as a little treat, I am writing on a zero draft of another novel.
So that’s the writing side. I am also getting back to reading. Now, I’m not saying all my reading needs to be a super active “what can I learn” reading with an eye to improving my craft, but if I want to improve, then I am going to have to get back to that.
On this blog, I will take back up something I did nearly a decade ago (wow – ouch time, thanks for that sucker punch) and review the books I read. I’ll cover the good and bad, and I will reserve space for what I can learn from the writing for my own craft. Unlike before, I aim to focus on new releases and lesser-known names. I have to read ahead to compete in the market as it stands.
So this is where I am. I intend to do a monthly check-in with myself to document my progress, and beyond that, I will post other content I feel inclined to post. If something exciting happens (agent offer, magazine acceptance, etc), I will check-in early, but I will also post an announcement on this site, so stick around (and help keep me accountable to myself).
Talk soon!