I am leaving my previous posts as they are, including the large gap, in an effort at transparency. However, as you can see, I have been pretty absent for the last year. While I have done some writing and revising during that time, I would definitely put it on a hobby level of effort, not a professional endeavor.

My life has changed drastically as to my day job and financial situation, and stress makes it harder to be creative, at least for me. This absence has been the result. In a self-perpetuating cycle, the lack of creative outlet is, of itself, stressful.

I am getting reorganized now, and resetting my writing goals and schedule. I suppose it’s a great time with ‘NaNoWriMo’ around the corner, and it being almost exactly a year since I fell out of the habit of writing. Of course, NaNoWriMo is only a thing, because after all of the years I have conditioned myself to the external stimulation of the month. Hey, whatever works, I’ll take it.

On that note, I had a huge ‘a-ha’ moment today while watching a YouTube video by an aspiring writer about a week in her life. She was talking about going to an office type space (outside of her home) to put in a solid block of work with less distractions. It struck me that was what I was missing. I used to go to restaurants (buffet style especially) or coffee shops, etc. to do most of my writing and get out of my head. (People providing me with snacks and beverages are always welcome.) It’s too easy to be distracted from my task, especially when it’s difficult, even in my own office.

lightbulb moment

So, my primary goal, right now, is to organize my files and my writing spaces to facilitate actually writing. It may sound simple and obvious, but sometimes you just need a different point of view to illuminate a problem.

Welcome back – to you and to me.