I find whenever I have a creative dilemma I come to all of you for help or understanding or to just vent. There is not always a solution to every problem, an answer to every question. Sometimes just “putting it out there” solves half of the problem, period.
So. My thoughts and questions this fine Monday morning are thus:
I haven’t felt like writing/finishing/exploring my current book works in quite some time.
That’s not me. That’s not the writer in me, the explorer in me, the dreamer in me.
What’s different, you may ask? I may ask the same question.
Do you just run out of creativity now and then? Out of mental energy? Out of research energy?
I’m not exhausted nor preoccupied. I am working on losing a few pounds, working around the house, playing with my grandkids when opportunity allows. I am still on the computer a portion of each day, still chatting with friends, both through this blog and in my own world. So I don’t feel like any of that has changed.
But I haven’t been over-enthusiastic about writing big or long pieces in a few months. Maybe longer.
Do you ever feel like you’ve run up to the wall, and instead of climbing the ladder to go up and over you’d rather sit on your side and have a picnic?
Not being creative bothers me. Especially when I extol its virtues at every turn.
Try another craft, you may say. Go for a walk. Clear your head. Visit someplace you’ve never been. I can see all those working in one way or another. Yet none of those seem to go more than skin deep.
I am not moved by my passion for writing like I used to be.
Is that normal?
At this senior age (which is young), will I ever find that heart-pounding urge to write long, adventurous novels like I used to? Is it even worth worrying about?
There are plenty of things to keep me busy during the day and evening, so it’s not like I’m staring quietly out the front window all day. It’s just this particular blister that seems to be bothering me.
I was just wondering if anyone else has reached this stopping point in their lives. I’m not giving up writing — that’s impossible. But the form of it, the shape of it, the substance of it may be changing.
And I’m not sure if I like it.