Course Correcting a Creative Slump

 

I follow quite a few blogs, one or two of them I read daily. I also subscribe to some YouTube channels of content creators that I find interesting. I try not to watch those daily because, you know, YouTube has millions of cat videos. I shouldn’t have to say anymore on that.🐱

Recently, someone I follow on YouTube decided to do a 100 day challenge of posting videos. I found this challenge admirable and wondered if I should set some sort of writing challenge for myself. These kinds of things inspire me.

Thirty days in, this YouTuber threw in the towel on the challenge. The YouTuber listed the reasons why and that he was not quitting YouTube, just the self-imposed challenge. He was going to try something else.

I follow a blog by a professional writer who has set similar challenges with writing over the years. Many times he’s succeed, but a few times he has not.

So why am I writing about this? Because these people show me I’m not alone.

In the past, I have set goals, challenges, made plans and all sorts of things. Sometimes I succeed, but mostly I don’t. Which often makes me wonder what is wrong with me? Until I see others who flounder like I do.

A Cycle of Sorts

Recently, I realized I often fall into some sort of cycle.

What happens is I write a story or two, I get going strong, then I fall into a creative slump. During these slumps nothing I write seems good enough and projects get abandoned. Sometimes I come back to them, sometimes I don’t.

Two of the stories I published this year, Snowed in With My Crush and Beach Fling With the Biker, were both stories I started last year in 2023. Last year was not a good year for me because of contracting Lyme Disease. However, earlier this year, I revisited those stories and finished them and put them out. Both stories were a struggle. Looking back, I wonder if I should have finished them or not? What’s done is done. Those stories are out in the world for better or worse.

Guard My Body came from a writing prompt and while that story took me longer to write than I wanted it to, I didn’t abandon it for months at a time. It got abandoned for about a week, but I came back to it not wanting it to languish on my hard drive like so many others. After that story, I thought I would keep going. Alas, a creative slump hit me.

I started a few stories after Guard My Body. I even tried using a couple of prompts to get me going, but I wasn’t happy with anything I was producing. But there is more. I lost interest in blogging on here as well. Like I had zero interest in even looking at this thing.

During this time, I put in serious thought about quitting. Quit writing completely. Find something else that might interest me. After all, I have a few hobbies that I haven’t worked on in years. Maybe I should turn my attention to those instead? I explored some options.

In the end, I realized that I really didn’t want to quit. I love stories. I love reading them, watching them and listening to them. More importantly, I love creating them. Analysing the situation, I still haven’t figured out what my issue really is with this, or why I fall into these slumps. I think this is the worst one I’ve had in a while.

I belong to a small local writer’s group and during our last meeting, my one friend asked me how my writing was going. I told her what was happening, and she nodded in understanding. For some reason, that made me feel better. Again, it helps to know I’m not alone.

Could it be writer’s block? Maybe. Probably. Who knows for sure?

What I do know is a few days ago I started another story with the determination to finish it no matter what. I also looked at my neglected blog/website, trying to regain my interest in it. Which I have.

Moving Forward

I have many other things going on in my life outside of the writing that no doubt affect my writing in negative ways. I try to work past them, but it’s not easy. In the end, no one really cares if I write something or not. A depressing thought, but one of truth. Except. . . I care, and that matters a whole lot.

While I would love to set some sort of challenge for myself, now is not the time. Like the YouTuber I mentioned above, maybe it’s time to evaluate where I’m going and readjust my course. It would seem course correction is an ongoing thing in life. Maybe that is as it should be.

Well, there you have it. A long over due update of where I’ve been. A new story is in the works and I should be a bit more active on here again.