The person who coined the phrase "it's like remembering
how to ride a bicycle" was not referring to the writing process. At least, not mine.
After some thirty-five traditionally published books,
writing was not just what I did, it
was who I was. And after writing those books, the rhythm of story, the flow of writing a book, was part of me for
good. Or so I thought.
Not that my muse faithfully remained at my side...or that
every book was easy to write. But,
I was able to make good progress and judge my timing of the writing process in
relation to a given deadline. And
then, I hit a brick wall.
My mom passed away, and that took the wind out of my
sails--even though I still had several books to finish on deadlines, which I
did do. But after that, I think I
fell into a serious case of burn-out and didn't submit new proposals or write
for over a year, or even find the motivation to keep up with my online
groups--like this one. I finally did self publish three novels
(out in 2014) and complete a couple of novellas--one for the Sweet Christmas Kisses anthology
last year, and one for the Sweet Christmas Kisses Vol II anthology coming out this fall, and I'm now very happy to also be back under a three-book contract. But the
first book of this contract was a challenge! I did lose a lot of weeks due to health problems. Plus, had unexpected travel, and managed to break my hand...and just after getting the cast off, one of our mares kicked that very spot while I was doing chores. More weeks of one-handed typing! But those
things aside, it was also more challenging to simply "get back in the
groove." I am so thankful to have a wonderful editor with a sharp eye for
detail, so I can make the book stronger through revisions. And now, I feel a bit like a race horse at a starting gate--really
excited about starting the next one!
How about you?
Have you ever hit a roadblock that sent you off course--and how did you
handle it? Have you found yourself
at a point in your career (writing or otherwise) where you ended up heading in
a totally different direction?
Roxanne Rustand
@roxannerustand
(Twitter)
www.facebook.com/roxanne.rustand