Writer’s block. It’s an ugly thing. It can strike at any time. It can turn a perfectly creative mind into a maelstrom of doubt and halt productivity in its tracks.
Theoretically, I could have called this post “Writer’s Block.” But the reality is, I didn’t even know that was what I was going to write about until I started writing.
One thing that would be good to know about me and my newsletter is that I am a pantser. A pantser is the opposite of a planner. It’s the person who flies by the seat of their pants. Yep, that’s me.
It can be fun and exciting, but sometimes it ends up in a crash landing.
Like today.
One would think that with all the snow we’ve been getting, that I would be happily curled up in the warmth of my home writing away. Or at least, that’s what I would think.
That isn’t how things worked out this week.
First, my son whacked his head on a desk and had a beautiful unicorn horn gracing his forehead, requiring observation and a little less sleep for this mama.
Second, my daughter decided to go skateboarding on the icy street, leading to a day-draining trip to Urgent Care.
Third, I had two patients this week in crisis, running over my lunch breaks and causing me to push patients past the end of my work day.
Oh, and did I mention that my husband bought an electric car and had an electrician come in and route the necessary power to the garage? By cutting multiple holes in our ceiling, creating a mess and driving my autistic son mad with the noise.
I mean, if you know anything about my family, this is really just life-in-the-day type stuff. But maybe it all added up to a little too much stress for my creative brain to come out and play.
I mean, I did grow a preposterous pair of muscle knots flanking my shoulder blades, and I did go to bed early multiple times with headaches, so I’m gonna’ go out on a limb and say that stress had something to do with my writer’s block.
So last night, I took good care of myself. A massage, a date with the husband, no pressure, no work, a Star Trek TNG binge on Netflix… This morning I appear to be able to write again. Prior to the muse shutting down, I did make some fun progress on the reshaping process for the novel, so never fear, progress is being made.
Maybe next time I’ll be ready to share more. I think that the Prophecy of the Phoenix might be a great place to start.
See you next week!