| 11 months ago :: May 08, 2009 - 3:00PM #1 | |
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I often feel this vacuum after finishing a huge project (like another edition of Writer's Market) that makes it hard for me to focus on new projects--or be productive at all. Usually running and/or completing small tasks helps me get back into a proactive frame of mind. Do you ever experience this vacuum? If so, how do you break out of it?
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| 11 months ago :: May 08, 2009 - 10:21PM #2 | |
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I find that keeping my schedule and filling in the blank place with other things keeps me going. When I'm working on a project and it consumes most of my time, I can think of a million things that need to be done, or that I want to do. Make a list. Then use those things to fill in the gaps. I have to keep busy or nothing gets done. If I am busy then the ideas seem to flow much better! |
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| 11 months ago :: May 08, 2009 - 11:39PM #3 | |
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Hi Robert, I also run, everyday on the mountain trails by where we live. It's a necessary part of the day after writing and being on the computer all day. I'd say you should go for a long run and then sit at ease with the peace of doing nothing for awhile, just so you can remember how it feels. I wish I had the luxury of doing that right now, but I'm promoting my new novel, Torn by God: A Family's Struggle with Polygamy, and learning all about "social networking." Twitter is an amazing concept - like being plugged into human consciousness, albeit at a superficial level. Still I am finding it has a certain public/private quality to it that is quite fascinating. Do you twitter? I expect you do, but I've not come across you yet. I check in when I can to see what you are doing here at WritersMarket.com. and now that I've had to sign up in order to leave you this message, I'll be checking in more frequently. Send your thoughts for rain to Santa Barbara. There's a fire racing through the town destroying everything in it's path. More than 75 houses burned. See photos at: www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/photos/200... Best, Zoe Murdock |
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| 11 months ago :: May 12, 2009 - 6:53PM #4 | |
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Mr. Brewer: My nickname should be Hoover--or maybe Elextrolux. At the end of January, I quite my "day job" as a columnist for a local newspaper. It was a wonderful retirement alternative and provided almost five years of meeting neat people and learning a lot about everything from radio controled sailboats to Appalachain clogging. That was then; this is now. The time had come to put my writing energies elsewhere. I have found that a great way to fill the vacuum is to "clean house". That is, to go through clips and computer files, without deleting anything. Each foray is providing prompts and ideas for new ways to share the written word. It's also a good chance to go to the gym, where the ideas from all of this searching can "defrag" in my mind and point to a new direction. Diane , Central FLorida |
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| 8 months ago :: Jul 28, 2009 - 12:37AM #5 | |
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I don't have a problem finishing one project and moving on to the next. I love to write and have a lot of good ideas. My first novel has been turned down eight times by L.A.'s. At 180,000 words it may be too long. I didn't know that until I finished. I don't really care, that is what it took to tell the story. Now I am working on another and I plan to keep at around 60 0r 70 thousand words. I have two others I have started but just became more interested in this one. Time is not hard for me to find, rest is. I was disabled two years ago and daytime TV was killing me. I have two degrees. My field was Environmental, Health, and Science. Now I write for fun and mental health. Keith |
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