Have you ever felt like a fraud? It’s a feeling I've been wrestling with the past few months.
I've written and told stories all my life. I've always had a project in progress. My
creative mind usually leaps forward with more ideas than I have time to put on
paper. This past couple of years I've not been as…active. So many other things, emotional and physical, have had to take precedence and by the time I deal
those things writing just isn't the smooth flowing joy it has been. It’s become
a chore and god knows I have wagon of chores and I cringe at another. I've never
looked at my creative writing like that. A chore. *Shakes my head in dismay
It's not to say I haven't written anything because I write a lot of things but majority is non-fiction and work oriented. Not the same thing. As far as creative writing most of it has been poetry which is a great way to put emotions into order, or so I've always felt.
I've had writing friends who've ridden me about stories I've written and why aren't I doing something with them. Bless their hearts, they mean well. They’re
trying to motivate me, encourage me. I've done the same for them. Yes, I like
the fact they've enjoyed reading my work and they feel it’s worth pursuing
but…how do you tell them you just don’t feel like writing? How do you say I look at this series and go meh?
I can encourage others. I critique stories and proposals. I can crack the whip
over them but I can’t seem to get ME going again. To find that inner fire. I
feel like a fraud.
I've been thinking a lot about it lately. Haven’t found all the answers. I have had
some creative ideas and those ideas were strong enough to shake me out of
my…apathy? At least they excited me enough that I wrote a brief summary down
and one is dancing around in my head where they usually play for awhile before
making it to the writing stage. I consider that progress. I know part of the
problem is finding that groove in time that belongs only to my muse and me. The
other part is I’m chained to my computer so many hours in the course of the day
the last thing I want to do is sit longer—I just want to escape. My schedule is
so caddywumpus right now that I haven’t found that fun time for creating. I
know I need to find it because I feel amputated without it.
My
conclusion, after thinking about all this for some time, is I have to find a
spot in my schedule that again belongs only to writing. Give myself permission
to let go of everything for that time and just settle in and do. If I need to
be away from my computer, and I do, then there is always a notebook and a pen.
I can write anywhere, right?
