I’m Back!

 

I know, it’s been a long, long time. Over a year, in fact, for anyone who’s been keeping track. (I only hope I have such loyal fans!) I know you’re probably wondering what on earth I’ve been up to, right?

Well, I’ll start by saying what I haven’t been up to. I haven’t been finishing any novels, or publishing any new Pulitzer-winning short story collections. In short, I haven’t achieved my goal of book publication by 40. Sigh.

“What the heck have you been doing with yourself all this time?” you may ask. The same things you have been doing, no doubt. Living. Doing “stuff”: running errands, volunteering at school, raising children, cleaning my house (every once in a while). I’ve also been editing and proofreading for others while searching for more regular income, which I recently found. And now that I’m settled into a new, regular, part-time work schedule with both of my children attending school all day long, five days a week, I’m ready to dive back into writing.

But this time, I’m approaching this writing thing with a new perspective. This time, I’m not focusing on the destination. This time, I’m not setting a goal for publication by a certain date, or completion of any given project by a certain time. I’ve found that I tend to set lofty goals that only leave me feeling miserable when I fail, once again, to achieve them.

Instead, I shall focus on the journey. The process. Writers write. I’ve read this phrase time and again. They don’t think about writing. They don’t dream about writing. They don’t talk about writing. They write. And so shall I.

Every day.

Even if it only amounts to a couple of scribbled lines in my journal, I shall write something every day. And every day that I do shall be a successful writing day. And any day that I don’t (and I’m sure there will be at least a few) will simply be an opportunity to remind myself to try harder the next day.

I’m diving back in by participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November. Yes, the goal is to complete a rudimentary novel by the end of the month, which I realize flies in the face of the proclamation I just made. But the goal of the month is simply to write every day in order to achieve 50,000 words by month’s end. I can do that. And I will.

So wish me luck! I will make this writing dream happen, one way or another, and I will keep you posted on my progress via this blog.

In the meantime, I haven’t been completely silent over the past year. I’ve taken to writing about my quest for a greener life via a series of guest blogs for Mrs. Green’s World. Please check them out, and then follow her blog so you don’t miss a single one!