Friday, March 16, 2007

Recapturing the Spark

An article came through RWA's Chapter Newsletter Editor's loop this week. I am restricted by RWA regulations from posting it, but nonetheless, it hit the mark with me. The subject? Reconnecting with passion in our lives...no, not what Shayla, Anna and Myla write! It's the passion we feel for things that are important to us. You know...when you're excited to get up in the morning and get to that project on your computer - that novella, that book, that story. Your characters have been whispering in your ear all night. They're insisting you put their words and actions on paper (or computer screen, as is the case for most of us). We are writers. It's a passion for us, or is it? Have you ever lost your passion for writing?

See the font color to this post? It's blue - for a reason. I'm in a funk...I seem to have left my muse (and my passion) in Florida. Since I've come home, my mind doesn't seem to want to think, plan, write. I've heard all the advise...write through it; give yourself permission to write anything, no matter how crappy; Just Do It. How? Have you ever just stared at a blinking curser with nothing, just nothing, coming?

I finished a book. It's needs a MAJOR overhaul. The story idea isn't bad. My heroine needs to grow a spine and have a personality transplant, and maybe a new job, new outlook, new...well, you get the idea. But when I try to think about what needs to be done, my mind just shuts down. - totally. It refuses to work. Period. So, the book has been gently slid "under the bed" for now.

So, back to this article on Reconnecting With your Passion. Her advice? To rediscover what makes you feel alive and do it. If it's not writing right now, so be it. If you can recapture your zest for life, and do the things that make you happy, you'll be able to tap into that feeling and put it toward your writing.

So, what do you think? Have you ever lost your passion for writing? How did you find it again?



2 comments:

Keri Ford said...

When I'm in a writing thud, or I just can't seem to focus. I like to read. Reading seems to take me back and remind me why I fell in love with writing in the first place.

sena said...

I know you don't listen to music, but honestly when I listen to a song, an idea comes to me. Or movies. Usually, when I watch a movie I always say, "Well, if I wrote it, it would be like this..."
Make sense? It might get you started. Also, what do you normally write? Whatever it is, maybe try your hand at something different? You know I write Paranormal, so maybe play with that. Or whatever makes you feel comfortable. Just don't panic. I'm the queen of panic attacks. Litterally. It stumps me every time for weeks.
Let me know how it works or email me and I'll play the game me and my best friend play when I can't think of anything. You give me a person and I'll write something funky then you respond and before you know it, it becomes an idea. That's usually what I do when I really panic.
Let me know how it goes.

Sena