Refilling the Creative Well

Creation needs to be fun. But when one type of creation is no longer fun, then the creator may need to take a break, or they need to return to fun things they used to do.

It used to be I would crochet afghans on Sundays while watching football. However, hot flashes have made that rather impractical. Who wants to curl up in a blanket soaked in my sweat?

Now that we have a couple of spare bedrooms, I'm turning the small bedroom into my doll design studio. I had to give up my hobby when Genius Kid was a toddler. I didn't have time, not with an active kid and practicing law full time.

After my experience this summer, I knew I needed to get back to doing something besides writing. So I collected some used Barbies, bought some acrylic paints, and found my boxes full of fabric. One of the sister-in-law's was getting rid of her sewing machine after inheriting her mom's beautiful antique one, and I offered to take it.

I'm documenting the process for for two friends. One is a painter who is curious about the process of re-painting a doll. Another is fascinated by the process. My ultimate goal is to create outfits and hair based on my characters, but I'm way out of practice after twenty years.

So I picked out three dolls that have slight flaws that can be hidden by clothing or paint. I found a lovely bridal dress pattern on Etsy, but I plan to modify it slightly to create ball gowns. And I have some awesome Halloween-themed fabrics. So I decided to redesign the three dolls into a Halloween Ball theme.

Here we are at the beginning. I'm still working on clearing boxes from the bedroom. The room will get a thoroughly cleaning and organizing once I've finished writing Death in Double Mocha.

Since I plan to re-root and re-paint the dolls, the first thing I needed to do was to carefully remove the heads. Why did I this? Regardless of the method I use to re-root the dolls' locks, I need access to the interior for knotting or glue.

The next steps include washing the exterior of the bodies to remove dirt and hopefully a few stains. I'll cut off the dolls' hair and clean out roots from the interior of the head. Finally, I'll remove the current facepaint.

Last Friday night, I sketched out the first dress. All the prep work will take the rest of the September and most of October.

Don't worry, folks. I'm not changing WWW into a doll blog. This is just a lesson I forgot and nearly paid the price for it. You need additional outlets beside writing. Otherwise, you could burn yourself out like I almost did.

Three Down, One More to Go!

I finished the third book in the Soccer Moms of the Apocalypse quadrilogy, War in White Chocolate, early yesterday evening.

Alas, there is no rest of the wicked. I need to finish the last proof of the paperback for Famine in French Vanilla today and jump into writing Death in Double Mocha.

Ironically, there's been three deaths in the family over the last eight months, and frankly, I'm not only peopled-out and funeraled-out, I'm approaching burn-out with my writing. It's not a good feeling, and a friend I trust said it was rather obvious in the last 888-555-HERO book.

That's not a good sign.

I plan to finish the Kickstarter books, and write Invasion! and the other two books on pre-order. Then, I will take a huge break for a couple of months. I really need to refill my creative well.

Part of the plan is to start working on OOAK Barbies again. I haven't had time to sew, much less face paint or re-root hair since Genius Kid was a toddler. And yes, I'll post pictures over the coming months.

There's also the MCU movies and series I haven't had a chance to watch over the last two years. I have over a thousand unread books, including research tomes for future writing projects. (She says as the gods on the cover of Budge's The Book of the Dead stare at her.)

I will still be writing, though not at the furious pace I have been since I recovered from cancer surgery. I've been working at such a ridiculous speed because I feared dying before I could write down all the stories in my head. Then I buried myself in writing to keep from stressing out over the pandemic.

None of this crazy behavior is healthy for anyone. And I need to relearn how to live.

We all do after the damn pandemic.

Hug your loved ones and furbabies. Take care of yourselves. And as the Doctor says, be kind to others.

Just Another Manic Monday

I was trying to finish Hero Ad Litem the same weekend DH's sisters wanted to work on their parents' house. It was fortuitous that I had our house all to myself. Bella crashed on my lap and slept while I wrote, except when she needed a constitutional, which usually correlated to my need for more caffeine.

But something broke within me while I worked Saturday. I don't know if I hit the wall of burnout or what, but all of the sudden this story wasn't fun for me (even if it did get me out of cleaning the in-law's house). I admit I cut it a bit shorter than I originally intended and dropped the price correspondingly. So, unless something drastically changes, I think Queer Eye for the Super Guy will be the last book in the 888-555-HERO series.

Maybe what DH and I both is a vacation most of all. We haven't been on a real vacation since before GK was born. Next month, we're heading to Millersburg, Ohio, for a long weekend. It's research for me, but it'll be nice to get away from home for a little while. As a friend pointed out when she did a Tarot reading for me recently, there's been a lot of shit going on in my life over the last two that had nothing to do with the pandemic.

So, yes, a little ghost hunting in Ohio Amish country will be fun. Maybe I'll find my mojo in the process.

Never Give Up!

Never give up! Never surrender! - Commander Peter Quincy Taggart, Galaxy Quest

 

 Apparently, I scared a few people with Wednesday's post. I'm not quitting. The point was even in a career you absolutely love, you need a vacation once in a while.

I know too many writers I started with back in 2011 who have disappeared into the ether. They had the dream right in their sweaty palms and lost it. In some cases, reality didn't match the dream. For a few, they did what the set out to do and wrote that one book to say they were an author. In others, they overwhelmed themselves by feverishly writing and publishing as fast as they could until they burned out and never wanted to look at a manuscript again, like a kid puking up his Halloween candy because he devoured it all in one sitting.

The last couple of weeks, I've dreaded opening up my laptop. Partly because the current wip is kicking my ass. Partly because my heroine is being driven mad at a time when I'm struggling with SAD. And partly because I need to recharge the well. I've given up most of my own entertainment in order to get this project completed.

It doesn't help that I'm doing a publishing challenge. I hate quitting with a passion, but I don't want to sacrifice my love of writing on the altar of completing this challenge. I realized my toes were hanging off the edge of a cliff, and if I weren't careful, the rest of me could fall in the chasm.

No one wants that. Especially me.

So this isn't about quitting. This is the proverbial vacation. After a day or three, I'll get the itch to crack open the laptop despite myself. And that's what I want in the long run.

Besides, you can't get rid of me that easily.

Burnout

I find myself needing to take my own damn advice. I need a break from writing before I totally burn myself out.

For the last year, I've been publishing something new every single month. On the months I published something I'd previously written under my name, I still released something new under Alter Ego.

And I was doing this in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. Despite all the insanity of COVID, DH and I found the perfect house. GK met his first love. A lot of good things still happened, right?

Except it's all stressful. Good stress. But still stress. Which means it causes a cascade of physical problems and exhaustion. Sheer exhaustion. Exhaustion couple with SAD (seasonal affective disorder) means despite sleeping 12-13 hours, I wake up still exhausted.

In fact, I'm so tired writing is starting to become a chore instead of a joy. And that's a major symptom of burnout.

Burnout can lead to a particularly insidious form of writer's block. One where you have plenty of ideas. You just don't want to execute them.

That doesn't mean I won't be writing. I'll finish the next Justice and 888-555-HERO novels. I'm putting together a couple of short story collections of things already written. But then I need to take a month or two off before I totally lose my mojo.

I guess what I want to tell other writers is not to keep running faster and faster on the hamster wheel of doom to the point where you lose all the joy in your art. Because yes, it is art. For me, it is an act of creation that's just as important as cooking or painting or raising children.

That stupid hamster wheel is not worth losing the things that make life wonderful. Know when to take a break.

Needing a Day Off

NaNo is usually a major blast for me, but with the insanity of Thanksgiving last week, I've stumbled getting anything done. I realized I've been writing like crazy for the last four months, and despite loving my projects, I was on the edge of burn-out.

Since DH has this week off, I took off a day. We slept in, got some breakfast at Starbucks, and headed to the Lima mall. I'm not a mall person, but the Monday after Thanksgiving is usually pretty quiet. Today was no exception.

DH wanted some sweatpants, and I needed a couple of long-sleeve overshirts since the weather's finally getting colder here. I picked up some peppermint bath gel because the store at home only had lotion left. I raided Yankee Candle for holidays scents. At DH's eyeroll, I pointed out I hadn't been there in two years. And I bought him a Christmas Cookie-scented candle as a bribe.

Finally, we put in our pre-order for cinnamon rolls at Cinnabon for the holidays. Well, we also got a six-pack to take home today. Those rolls taste so good, but are so bad for you at the same time!

GK ordered a 32" TV for himself on Black Friday. It wasn't supposed to arrive until tomorrow, but apparently, USPS has its shit together. It arrived while we were out and about, so the postperson left the box with our complex manager.

Not long after we picked up the TV and unloaded the rest of the car, the UPS guy showed up with the books I ordered, which weren't supposed to be here until Wednesday.

I'm impressed the delivery people are on top of things this early in the season!

It's snowing, and we're settling in for the night (though I really should go out and walk off that Cinnabon I just ate). I'll make cheeseburgers and steamed veggies for dinner. We'll watch the Texans play the Titans.

It's been a necessary mental health day. I'll jump back into my imaginary worlds in the morning.

When Real Life Intrudes

My writing productivity has left something to be desired in 2014. Between packing, getting the Houston house ready to go on the market, and dealing with some family issues over the last year, I think I've officially burnt out the creative part of my brain through stress.

While I can't make all the stressors go away, I'm following Colleen Thompson's advice and refilling the well. I'm reading a little more and writing a little less. I'm watching the movies I missed at the theater over the last two summers, and re-watching my favorite sitcoms.

And I'm jumping ship on my book schedule and working on a couple of projects I hadn't planned, just to shake things up in my brain a little.

Hopefully, this will jump start the creative process again.

(P.S. That book the stormtrooper is checking out? Excellent!)

Protecting Your Livelihood - Part 5

Currently reading - Greywalker by Kat Richardson

A couple of days ago, we talked about physical health, but mental health is just as important.  This means taking a break from the writing and do something else creative or entertaining.  Colleen Thompson refers to this as refilling the well.

Take a hard look at the writers you loved twenty, ten, even five year ago.  How many are still writing?  (And I'm not referring to folks like the late, wonderful Marion Zimmer Bradley.)  Sometimes it's raw bad luck, but in a lot of cases, burn-out is the cause.  To prevent burn-out, you need to give your mind something else to focus on.

Actress Jane Seymour paints.  Writers Jim Butcher and Sherrilyn Kenyon play RPGs.  I cook.

In fact, yesterday was my last free day before the boys come home from Ohio.  So I tried out a new chocolate, cherry shortbread cookie recipe.  I watched a couple of episodes from season 2 of True Blood.  I cleaned the living room.  (Hey, for me, it's relaxing.)

And while I dusted and vaccuumed, my insolent little brain got bored and decided to work on the latest wip.

Stupid brain.  Now I have to type up the plot points before I forget.


Anyone else want to share their methods for relaxing?