When Inspiration Strikes...But You're Dead

with guest Jessica Nelson

Sometimes a writer dies.

Maybe it's the stress of meeting deadlines. Maybe it's personal events overwhelming creativity. Maybe it's exhaustion.

But if you've been writing for any length of time, you have probably experienced something that feels like death. A dearth of motivation, the wasteland you just can't seem to trek through. This is different than your standard writer's block. It's so much worse.
Take heart, dear writer. These times won't last, even if you feel dead when the inspiration strikes.

When I wrote my first three manuscripts, life was pretty sweet. I was a stay at home mom who typed during my sons' naps. I hadn't learned all the ins and outs of craft, so I just dropped my fingers on the keys and wrote whatever seemed exciting to the story. This meant a lot of revision later on, when I knew better. But at the time, there was an innocent joy in creating without restrictions. Sometimes I wrote in the evenings too...when I wasn't happily hopping around the blogosphere. 

Life is always changing though. Time crunched as I began carting my kids to school. As I rearranged my writing to deal with that schedule, finances tightened due to a poor economy. Family issues cropped up, taking a little more time from my day. I even had to get a part-time job. The writing slowed but I still managed to carve out writing space because my writer's soul was a flourishing. My craft improved. I learned more. I kept writing.

I sold a book! 

Love On The Range, a story that went through with numerous revisions throughout the years, was my very first finished manuscript. So while circumstances seemed to be getting a little harder ...I'd still sold a book. That meant something. Something huge. The future spread before, shining with opportunities and the possibility of having a career doing something I loved! I started my next book, brimming with hope.

And then it happened. 

This change isn't something you realize right away. Rather, it creeps up on you, a suffocating vine around your motivation. A slow, insidious strangulation. As time slipped away, eaten by obligations and stresses, my body began to fail me. Instead of being excited to write, I found myself fearing the computer. Drained, I tried to sleep but spent hours laying awake in my bed, my body devoid of energy. I tried to clean (something I had once enjoyed) but it was half-hearted. The best plot twists and scene ideas seemed to strike when it was impossible to write...During breakfast, while driving the kids home from school, or at night, when I was so exhausted my eyes burned and I couldn't move. 

Life wedged itself between me and my dreams...and it felt like the writer inside me died. I eked out words, but they were painful and brown, autumn leaves crumpled on the dry soil of my soul. Another book, somehow written during one of the most painful parts of my life, sold.
Despite the emotional desert I was in, God still knew my dreams. When I struggled to dream for myself, He was there. 

The worst was yet to come though.

 The final gasp of my writer's heart happened last year. I had a contract and a second book to be released in June 2014 (Family on the Range). I had even managed to put out two e-books, officially establishing myself as a hybrid writer.  

The final gasp of my writer's heart happened last year. I had a contract and a second book to be released in June 2014 (Family on the Range). I had even managed to put out two e-books, officially establishing myself as a hybrid writer. 

Yet the soul of my writing was bleeding out, nicked by unexpected events. 

This isn't something only I've dealt with. I'm absolutely sure of that. Every writer goes through seasons of doubt and despair, of empty words and hollowed voice. If you want to write for publication, as a career, even as a calling, you can't give up even when you feel dead to the marrow of your being.

DON'T GIVE UP.

Instead, plan. That's what I'm trying to do now. I'm still in the desert but I see grandiose mountains ahead. Streams surrounded by colorful  wildflowers and breathtaking views. My mojo is returning and I'm looking at my past with a magnifying lense.

Here are some things to consider no matter where your writing soul resides.

1. When do you write best? What time of day? Is it possible to writing during that time? If not, how can you work around it? More coffee? Waking up earlier or staying up later? I've heard some writers leave their laptop open and plunk down words between chores and errands.

2. Make writing a priority. If you don't treat writing like it's important, why will others? 

3. Drink healthy, eat healthy, sleep healthy. 

4. Pray. Who else can help you but the God who loves you, who has a purpose for your very being? Talk to Him, or weep to Him....either way, keep that communication open. 

5. If it hurts to write (to feel when you're awash in feeling), do it anyway. Push through! No pain, no gain, right? 

6. If you're numb, release words anyway. They can be edited later.

7. Cut yourself slack. Sometimes, whatever the reason, we just can't write. That's OKAY. Different seasons call for different plantings. 

I thought I'd died but really I was changing. It was painful and even now I don't know if I'm a butterfly or still in my chrysalis, but one thing I do know, not writing is a sure way to stagnate. I recently signed a new contract on proposal with Love Inspired Historical and you can bet I won't be wallowing in the desert, getting a sunburn. 

There is too much life around us to allow ourselves, our words, to wither away into nothing.

Where are you with writing? Where do you want to be? Can you share your tips for writing despite emotional deserts?

  Leave a comment to be entered to win Love on the Range, or Family on the Range or a Starbucks gift card. Three winners. (Winners announced in the Weekend Edition)


Family on the Range

A Second Chance

A quiet ranch in the Oregon desert gives Mary O'Roarke the solace she craves after a painful childhood. Concealing her growing feelings for her boss, government agent Lou Riley, is a small price to pay. Then an abandoned little girl is placed in Mary's care, awakening dreams she's all but forgotten.

In all the years Lou has known her, how could he not have noticed Mary's courage and warmth? Seeing her care for a child is a bittersweet reminder of the lonely widower's loss. But if Mary won't give up on young Josie—not even when real danger approaches—then Lou can't give up on bringing this unlikely family together for good.

 

Jessica Nelson believes romance happens every day, and thinks the greatest, most intense romance comes from a God who woos people to himself with passionate tenderness. When Jessica is not chasing her three beautiful, wild little boys around the living room, she can be found staring into space as she plots her next story. Or she might be daydreaming about a raspberry mocha from Starbucks. Or thinking about what kind of chocolate she should have for dinner that night. She could be thinking of any number of things, really. One thing is for certain, she is blessed with a wonderful family and a lovely life.