Saturday, October 21, 2017

Cracking the Creative Wall


https://www.facebook.com/AbandonHopeBook/
Sometimes, you hit the proverbial wall and it’s hard.  It makes your head hurt.  That’s where I’m at with blogging and writing.  I worked on my first completed novel for several years, and it is about to be released.  (Watch for postings about “Abandon Hope” to find out where you can get your own copy.  It is likely to be released in early November.)  I also did a great deal of blogging alongside of that project.  For a while, I had two different blogs going.  I was adding to Caaamper’s Thoughts a couple of times per week, and I was also cranking out articles for my church family’s leadership blog on a regular basis.

Then, I hit the wall.

Somewhere in late 2015 or early 2016, my creative well ran dry.

I ran out of ideas.  Sometimes, I’d have an idea flutter around in my brain, but by the time I got to a position to write about it, it would flutter right on out of my ears and be gone.  Frankly, I’m still struggling with that problem.  I think, just like sometimes you have to force yourself to take a walk or go to the gym, writers (and other creative people) have to force themselves to produce—something.  It may be weak or “not their best work,” but it is still stirring the juices.

Two other things happened that contributed to the wall:

First, there was the 2016 Presidential election and the non-stop bitterness in all forms of media ever since.  Obviously, the election and the results have given new energy to a great many other creative spirits, but to me, well, I just find it emotionally and spiritually draining.  My goal in life is one of peace-making and the generation of goodwill within my readers.  This current environment has overwhelmed my creative spunk.

Second, I started a new job role at my employer.  It takes a great deal of mind energy to get into the groove in a new position at work.  Further, this job now has me traveling to new places and in new ways.  I’m driving further, staying in more hotels, and flying on a regular basis.  While the new challenge is fun, it is also tapping into my well of energy.

When I would have a few minutes to write, I’d waste it on mindlessness.  I wanted to escape to someplace that didn’t require my inner core to participate:  Candy Crush or Netflix.

This is not to say that I haven’t written anything.  I’ve sputtered out a couple of blog posts for my church, and I did start a new novel last summer.  (I wrote six chapters before my internal generator ran out of gas.)  The new novel is tentatively called “The Redemption of Molly McKanna” and it is loosely based on stories from my mother’s life.  It will be fictional, but based on real events, starting when she was eighteen years old.

I have two other writing projects in mind. 

https://store.acupressbooks.com/products/love-first
I was moved by a book written by my friend, Don McLaughlin.  Love First, for me, drills the problems with our modern church life right in the nose.  As a result, I’ve been thinking about writing a practical follow up that would detail stories where people have demonstrated that biblical love in my life juxtaposed to examples where I fell short of doing the same.   I may or may not ever get this one off the ground, but if you are a Christian, and you haven’t read Don’s book, I highly recommend it.

Lastly, I need to write the sequel to Abandon Hope.  My wife has been telling me to do it for a while, but I just haven’t started it.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  I’ve been working on the story in my head.  It’s just the part about actually sitting down with the laptop and typing it into reality that has been the stumbling block.

Here’s my commitment to you, my readers:  I will find a couple of blocks of time each week to set aside and devote to writing.  Some of that time will be used to write some blogs, and some of it will be used to work on one of the above projects.  I promise.

There’s a crack in my brick wall and I’m determined to bring it down!