Don’t Stop Believing

This week:
What (if anything) drains/blocks your potential productivity? How does it do so? What can you do to correct this?

Not much stops my creativity; in fact, adversity generally increases my retreat into ‘what ifs’, ‘how abouts’ and straight into ‘total escapism’.

I think all the time; I ‘rehash’ all the time. Be they situations from real life, or situations and people in my imagination, they get worked over and reworked.

Getting most of it onto a page is another story.

What stops me?

Everything. I let everything get in the way.

Health. This week, I hurt my foot severely. It’s painful and I cannot take ‘good’ pain medication. I can bear it; it isn’t as bad as it could be/has been, but it does give me headaches. It is also hurting me by contortions to my spine, (via the shift in weight and the higher walking boot), and under normal circumstances my spine has enough trouble of its own. As almost everyone knows, I had serious neck surgery last year and that really stopped me cold for as long time.
I won’t even go into my several chronic conditions that simply sap my energy.

Up until recently I had major family issues that needed my almost constant attention and vigilance. Things have changed, calmed a bit in many areas, so I am freer in some ways in that respect, but now, The Husband is retired and he hasn’t found himself yet. I rather get distracted by him lately. (We’ve seen a lot of shws and movies together.)

I do see the family. The Brother is very unwell, in and out of the hospital and nursing homes. Son #2 and Grandson come in from out-of-town, though not as much.( Still, I spend a lot of time on the phone with them.) Son #1 drops in or comes over often for dinner with one or more of the Granddaughters. Everything drops for family.

Housework. When I asked on best-selling author if she had ‘help’, she said that she was ashamed to admit to the number people that she had working for her. I told her not to be embarrassed, that I would love to be in the position to give other people jobs. She confessed that when she was working full-time, her kids were younger and she stayed up writing at night, that one of her toilets didn’t see a brush for 3 years. I could not do that. My house will never make Better Homes and Gardens; ‘it’s lived-in’, but acceptably clean. (Yes, you may ask to use my bathroom at any time and it will be perfectly fine!)

Food. Of course. Everyone who knows anything about me knows that I am a ‘foodie’. We seldom eat out; I cook fresh food, I shop sales so that, even when money was really tight, we have always eaten well. The shopping, prep, freezing, etc. takes time. Now, I make special diets for family members; more time.

Reading: A writer has to read or they can’t write…that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

What can I do? NOTHING. You read that right, at least for the most part, nothing.  My guest in two weeks helped me put things into perspective. I did not plan this; the topic is not mine and when I made the schedule, I had not asked him in as a guest a yet; I had not read his posts or book and had no idea that he would be getting his interview back to me so swiftly that I could schedule him for the next slot.

I will tell you that I lmpw that most of my writings have suffered from pushing too soon, and  sending out too early. I learn more as I go along and  as they sit and ‘perk’ for a while. I am so glad that I did not ‘finish’ many of them sooner. I have more to add to some…and I have more to cut in others.

I am beginning to understand why I have not put tush to chair and fingers to keyboard, which I must do, now that more of the projescts are ready to be completed.

I sincerely can tell you that the guest, a screenwriter/turned-psychologist-to-Hollywood/turned mystery writer, can help you to help yourself in any situation, be it self-doubt, be it writer’s block, be it family obligations, be it whatever is keeping what you consider a down-point in your writing or your life.

Trust me.

Do I sound smitten? No, not smitten, just grateful. I had no idea that by looking at posts to ask this FB friend in for an interview that I could feel so much better, that I could help myself and accept the gift of time and experience to make stories better.

He even considers writer’s block a gift. We’ll let him explain in two weeks. However, I personally have never had writer’s block. When I put hand to pen or more often, fingers to keyboard, it all starts to flow. When I go back to a WIP, if I am not sure where to take it next, I reread what had already come to fruition, and it will take me where we need to proceed.

But getting there is another story.

Do yourself a favor. Dennis Palumbo: Look him up. I need to read more of his posts, his book, and to re-read them.

Roman stories weren’t written in a day. Let Palumbo help you to write yours.
Please also come to read his interview on May 17th.