Refilling the Creative Juices

I think it is time to ease up and take a nice deep breath of summer air. I feel like I have this rigid time-line looming before me. I have to be a published, money earning author by X. It isn’t working very well. I mean, having a goal and a career plan is good. Very good.

But I need to ease up on myself a bit. I have time. I am learning. I haven’t stagnated. It’s just the fact that I have learned that I am, once again, further from my long-term goal than I originally thought I was, is killing me. And that is silly. This is supposed to be fun.

Of course there is a ton to learn. How many people actually sit down, write a first novel and have it published within two years? Not that many. They have piles of ‘learning’ manuscripts tucked in the rafters. They had to work at this and so do I. And I can do it.

But right now, I need a break. So, I’m going to pack up the car and my family and leave the in-laws behind and drive. And then I’m going to drive some more. And then some more. And I will learn. This CAN be part of my growth as a writer. It can. And it will. I will ruthlessly eavesdrop on farmers, miners, gas jockeys, campers from all over, executives, rich, poor, Easterners, Westerners and my family. I will come out a better understanding of characters. And then I will come home and I will write.