The in-between…

As I write this, I’m in one of the scariest positions a YA writer can be in, I’ve got young adults reading my unpublished manuscript.

It’s scary, but it’s what needs to happen. It also means there’s not a lot of point in working on it too much until I get some feedback.

So, while I’m waiting, I do what writers (at least writers called Farangian) do… I’m catching up on the worky icky managery portions of writing, trying to get my house/workshop/office back in order, and watching way too much Curse of Oak Island.

The thing is, all of this stuff is necessary, and part of the workflow, even the binge watching.

The manager stuff and the organizing stuff cover thousands of little things that need to be done, the ones that get hard when you’re ‘heavy focus’ on an exciting project. (That’s why my office looks like a library/print shop exploded come December 1^st)

The binge watching helps me think about stories I’m not working on, and in searching for new ideas and interesting alternate ways to look at ideas. It’s a way of replenishing my store of story bits while letting the ‘creative fields’ rest. It helps, but resist the urge to get stuck in that mode too long.

Eventually we all have to get back to work.

Eventually we all have to face what our audience thinks about our work (even if we are our only audience).

But, in those quiet times between, don’t feel bad about getting the dusting done instead of pumping out epic numbers of words per day.

Feel good about getting the shelves stocked, the bills payed, and all those other things that need doing done.

And, binge watching/listening/reading? Well, we can call that research… Just remember we have to get back to our own work when the time comes.

I should be back to work next week dear reader, hopefully with some encouraging reports from the teens. See you next post!