I find myself fighting the writing blues. For the past few months I have been focused on editing, query contests, and participation in the writing community. There were lots of smiles, laughs, and connections to be had. I enjoyed every minute of the adventure. Wellllll….. with every high there comes that moment when the low finally hits.

I finished editing my baby for the hundredth time, working to fix my show-vs-tell abilities. I forced myself to focus on just this one project, ignoring the pull of newer ideas and new worlds. The voices were strong and insistent, but for the first time in my life I managed to stay on target. I allowed the call of my WIP, while I tweaked and refined.

I felt overjoyed and completed a query letter that didn’t make me want to go back to bed, burn my laptop, and hide under the covers for days.  My words came with ease and confidence, as I revisited all the cracks in my story. The excitement had me putting on my helmet, ready to take on the world.

I entered query contests on Twitter. I sent of regular query letters for my novel, and I entered sent off half a dozen short story submissions. I became sooooo focused on the business side of writing that forgot that this is just the beginning of my writing journey.

Then I finished editing that last line. Looking at my baby, I wanted to crawl into a hole. I wanted to take back all my submission. My work wasn’t ready for the Red Pen Of Hate… I needed to protect my babies. No one out there could look at my work and enjoy what I had created. I felt depressed.

And I got one of the many ‘Rejection’ letters that we as writers learn to expect. It wasn’t rude or demeaning. Quite the opposite. Buttttttt…. Those first few words, “We’re sorry, but…” flashed in my mind’s eye until the rest of the email disappeared. I needed time. I needed chocolate. And above all, I needed to allow no one but my mother to have access to my work.  😛

Now, thoroughly depressed, I plan to fight my slump the only way I know how. My kindle is charged and ready for my therapy session. I think that this slump will require a large dose of Patricia Briggs. If that doesn’t work, I will hit the hard stuff… Laurell K Hamilton, Shelly Laurenston, Karen Chance….The list goes on and on.

Reading aside, I have my WIP…. I can lick my wounds, enjoy my favorite authors, and develop my own worlds to wake through. Allowing your mind to interact with the voices of inspiration filling your mind can be the best motive to keep learning, to keep writing, to keep enjoying the creation of wordage…

Happy Writing, Tracey