Slow and Steady

In October of 2008, I conjured up an idea for a book. It combined some minor elements of stories I'd been sitting on for a while, but for the most part it was fresh, and new, and exciting. I wrote it for NaNoWriMo that year. I fell in love with the characters and with the story. I edited and revised, and then I wrote queries (and I sent them way too soon, but that's another story). It was my baby, but eventually I had to shelve it. It wasn't going anywhere right then, and it was time to move on.

I never did forget about that story, though. It was constantly in the back of my mind and, in January of 2014, I revived it. I've been working on it off-and-on for just over a year now. I'm about halfway through the writing. It's not where I want it to be. I originally wanted to have it finished by now. I wanted to be working on edits and revisions and cleaning it up after letting my writing friends tear it apart. If I look at my original goals, I am so desperately behind.

But you know what? I've decided that doesn't matter. Life happens. Things get in the way, motivation waxes and wanes, and sometimes you just need to take a step back and work on something else.

Lauren DeStefano posted something on Tumblr this evening that really resonated with me:

you do NOT have to write every day to be a writer. I’m a writer and I have a designated day where I do nothing but eat chips in bed. [link]

I don't write every day. I go through periods where I try to, but some days I just can't, for one reason or another. Sometimes that reason is that all I feel capable of is sitting on the couch and watching Netflix. And you know what? That's okay. I'm not on a deadline. I don't have a magic date where if I pass it, I'll never be able to publish anything.

It's important to push myself, I believe, but it's equally important to know when other things have to come first.

So with that I leave you, reader folk. I'm going to finish this episode of Orange is the New Black, get some cleaning done before my in-laws come visit this weekend, and maybe, if I'm up for it, finish the chapter I'm working on.

'Til next time,
J.