Wednesday, August 5, 2020

IWSG and Keep Writing With Fey Blog Hops




Today you get two blog hops for the price of one. It's time for the monthly IWSG hop hosted by Alex Cavannaugh and cohosted by Susan Baury Rouchard, Nancy Gideon, Jennifer Lane, Jennifer Hawes, Chemist Ken, and Chrys Fey. The IWSG is great place for writers who would like to share what's on their mind. This month, one of the above co-host, Chrys Fey, is also hosting a blog hop on writer's block, depression, and/or burnout that I will be participating in, because, yes, you can do it all, right? 

Well, no, of course not. That's silly. I'll be skipping the optional monthly question for the IWSG. 

Once upon a time, I was a happy writer, cranking out my first novel with dreams of getting an agent and then a publishing deal and someday, seeing my book in a store, watching with pride as a customer came along, plucked it from the shelf, and put in their cart/recyclable bag. Ah, such innocent times. 

Then I tried to query. What a roller coaster that was. Lots of rejection, lots of not hearing anything, a small smattering of partial requests, an even smaller number of whole requests, and one revision and resubmit that still ended in the dreaded: No. Heck, I even went to NYC for a editorial conference to pitch to editors. 

When I'd had enough, I wrote another novel and followed the sage advice that an efficient writer should start their new novel while quering the finished one. Sure! Except they never said how to keep writing while actively being rejected again and again. 

So the third novel petered out during the second draft, restarted a bit here and there, and stopped dead with the pandemic. I haven't touched it in months. What to do, what to do? 

I could self publish, but the amount of work to do it well, figuring out how to hire editors, copy-editors, cover-artists, self-promotion, and marketing all seemed too much. I wasn't ready to commit the time or the money. Maybe I should clean one of the novels up and put it on WattPad and see if it gains any readers. But that still would take a lot of time and do I want to keep investing time in either of the first two novels? Not sure.

So now what? Quit writing? Maybe. Or maybe, I'll just write not for the purpose of publishing, but for the purpose (and hopefully, joy) of creating. In other words, write for myself. Will anyone ever see it? I don't know. When will this writing ever begin? Possible this fall, depending on how much my daughters need my help with school. How do I feel about it? Sigh. I really don't know. Whatever I'm going through, call it writer's block, depression, or burn-out, it's not over yet. 

But I'm not sitting in a corner crying about it. I'm gardening like a mad man (woman). I'm decluttering the house. I'm hiking, biking, kayaking, and reading Stephen King's Gunslinger series while eating way too many M&Ms.





The rock garden, now with some plants, but not finished.
 

And here's something else I could be reading: 



 

 

 

 

Catch the sparks you need to conquer writer’s block, depression, and burnout!

 

When Chrys Fey shared her story about depression and burnout, it struck a chord with other writers. That put into perspective for her how desperate writers are to hear they aren’t alone. Many creative types experience these challenges, battling to recover. Let Keep Writing with Fey: Sparks to Defeat Writer's Block, Depression, and Burnout guide you through:

 

·        Writer's block

·        Depression

·        Writer's burnout

·        What a writer doesn’t need to succeed

·        Finding creativity boosts

 

With these sparks, you can begin your journey of rediscovering your creativity and get back to what you love - writing.

 

 

BOOK LINKS:

 

Amazon / Nook / iTunes / Kobo

 

Goodreads




 


 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Chrys Fey is the author of Write with Fey: 10 Sparks to Guide You from Idea to Publication. She is also the author of the Disaster Crimes series. Visit her blog, Write with Fey, for more tips on how to reverse writer’s burnout. https://www.chrysfey.com/


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Has burnout/writer's block been a problem for you?