The State of My Writing...

(Image from Wikipedia Commons)

My Old Blog was all about my writing, but I regret to say that it became neglected and long-ignored, largely because I wasn't doing enough writing to have much of a reason to update it.

So does that mean I am done with writing? Am I only going to focus on the music I create, like I did in the Last Post I made? Has the Muse of writing finally left me, never to return?

No. Not at all.  Although, as a side note -- there really doesn't appear to be a Muse dedicated to the kind of mysteries and speculative fiction I like to do.  The nine Muses are Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Erato (love poetry), Euterpe (song and Elegiac poetry, whatever that is), Melpomene (tragic theater), Polyhymnia (hymns), Terpsichore (dance), Thalia (comedic theater), and Urania (astronomy). None of them seem to cover mysteries, science fiction, and other forms of speculative fiction..  So maybe it's not that the Muse has left me; it's that I never had one to begin with.  Hmmm...

But be that as it may, my point is, as Confuscious said, “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”  Or, as I say, "I ain't done yet."

I am still going to write and I want to do much more of it.  What has happened in the last year or so was just a very long lull of non-production in the midst of a glacial pace of completion.  And now I'm going to move past it...

However, I do have to announce that my main WIP has officially and completely become a WOOP (Work Out Of Process). The novel I've struggled with for several years has formally been retired.  I do think there could be a good story in there someplace, but I could never seem to get my arms around it.  The overall flow never seemed to solidify, even after several complete revisions.  The plot never came together in a satisfying way, the characters never felt true-to-life, and the writing always felt forced.  So it's been shelved. 

That's both disappointing and liberating.  Disappointing because I really wanted to "finish" it, and now I'm pretty sure I never will. But liberating because I can now step away from it and move on to other things.  And it wasn't a total waste -- the years of attempts were a tremendous learning experience.  When I compare the writing of some of my very first drafts with that from my last ones, I can really see significant growth as a writer. So that's a definite positive to take away from the experience.

So then where am I now as a writer?

Well, still developing, still growing, and yes -- still writing.  Just slowly.  Because I also have other creative outlets (as this blog will show), and because I'm only a part-time writer even at my best.  Truthfully, at this stage of my life, ALL this stuff I'll talk about on my blog is hobby activity.  I've got a full-time job, a fabulous wife, two great stepkids, and an awesome sorta-step-kinda-semi-adopted-daughter and an amazing granddaughter who live with us. Plus all the other life things that want a little slice of my free time.

But yes, I still write, and I'm going to continue.  I currently have two ideas churning for a new novel-length WIP, several short stories in various stages of incomplete-ness, and other thoughts about potential stories.

Some of these will eventually come to completion, and --  who knows -- even though my success-to-submission ratio is still "Oh-for-All of them," I just might get something published that I can point you to.

If that ever happens, I promise to not keep it a secret. :)

In the meantime, I'll keep slowly stumbling ahead...