Photo by Craig Sunter
Every since I was young, I’ve had a little clicking gear in my head that gets tighter and tighter, clicking louder and louder whenever I don’t have something to write.
As a kid, that was taken care of with a notebook. As a grown woman, that is taken care of with a novel. It’s slightly neurotic, I’ll give you that, but it’s also highly effective to keep me writing. When I say I want to write five books a year, that’s a little inaccurate. I need to. If I don’t keep writing, that little gear in my head starts to click forward. I feel like an addict when I email my editor pleading for a go ahead on a manuscript, and planning for ways to fill my time until I get one.
Heaven forbid I be left alone without a plot to guide my thoughts!
I’ve been running free of deadlines for a few days now, and I’ve taken time to read, hung out with friends, and generally behaved like a normal and balanced human being. It’s a good exercise–like research for my characters. But painful–I won’t lie. 😉 Today was Day 6 without a deadline, and two things happened:
- I went to the ladies’ Bible study this morning at our church, which I don’t normally have time for because of the way it slots into my work day. It was nice. It’s good to reconnect with the women in my community.
- My editor sent me the revision letter for my latest manuscript.
The gear stopped clicking and I had to physically stop myself from signing my return email with a heart. ❤
I have something to work on–something with a deadline–and that just does me good.
