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| 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.
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| 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!
