Writing Through Adversity

Last year I did a post at Blogging in Black entitled “I’ve Lost my Passion” which explored my dwindling interest in reading. In the piece, I did some deep soul searching why I just didn’t enjoy books as much as I once did and related that personal problems may have gotten in the way. I still believe this. Adversity has a way of sapping the enjoyment out of many of life’s pleasures.

I’ve read postings from other authors about the need to write during stressful times, including family illness, and I take this to heart because I have a close family member who has suffered two strokes. We’re both dealing as well as we can, and she is recovering. We got hit with more bad news recently, but we’ve decided to react with positivity instead of just accepting it.

In the meantime, I write because I have to, although it’s mostly freelance non-creative pieces. Still, I find satisfaction doing these pieces, maybe because they serve as a distraction, where my mind is fully engrossed with facts and figures. And I always try for a personal best whenever I sit down to the keyboard, no matter what I’m writing.

Still, it’s been a while since I have done anything creative - and to be honest, I’m not missing it right now. Laying out a plotline, researching ancillary facts, fleshing out characters are fun components of writing, but only if your heart is in it, and right now, mine just isn’t. Yet, I know that if I had to, I could - especially if there were a deadline involved. In the middle of THE OBJECT OF LOVE (TOOL), my relative suffered her first stroke, and I didn’t think I would be able to type another word. Not to mention, that I came across a rather brutal online critique of my first book AGAIN, which made me question my abilities to pull in an audience.

Feeling discouraged about the review, I emailed author Monica Jackson and mentioned that I wanted to quit writing altogether. She threatened to find me and do damage if I did and admonished that this was just part of a writer’s lot; some people are going to like your work, others won’t. She told me not to let them put me off course. So I got back to work and was able to deliver TOOL right on deadline.

So even though I feel off course right now (maybe I need a good Monica a** kicking), I hope one day to find my mojo and get back to the novels I love to write - adversity be damned.

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Note from Tanya:

Sharon,

You may have temporarily lost your passion, but there’s no doubt in my mind that you’ll get it back. For one thing, nobody with talent like yours can stay away from storytelling. Fiction writing (and in your case, STELLAR fiction writing) is sewn into your DNA. You can no more walk away from it, than you can stop breathing. Having read two of your books, I can honestly say that you’ve got a fan for life in me, and I truly look forward to your next novel.

You’re on my auto-buy list, lady.

:yes: