Trudging Through The Sludge

I recently hit a brick wall with my writing. I hit it hard and fast and boy did it knock me for a loop! It came about because of a couple of things going on in my life and unfortunately it overlapped into my work. I was just barely managing and then I began working on a difficult assignment. It started out fairly easy and then complete chaos took over.

I won’t mention what happened except to say that I spent many sleepless nights trying to work on this project. I spent all day. I spent all night. I didn’t get very far. My confidence in my writing abilities plummeted and I fell into a deep and dark abyss of writer despair. Suffice it to say it was horrible.

Shortly thereafter I took a relatively fun project on and thought everything would be ok. But to my surprise and despair, I still felt like I was trudging through a deep and thick sludge that wasn’t ever going to leave. What is a writer to do? Working through it wasn’t helping.

A writer friend and mentor suggested I take a day off. I decided to follow her advice. I played hooky from all of my responsibilities yesterday. It was wonderful! I feel refreshed and renewed. I am able to write again. I’m going to take the weekend off from my work responsibilities and start next week off with a renewed vigor. Sometimes a little break from life is good for the mind and the soul.