[Forward]

Burn-out and get-out?

After writing the concluding book of my World War II trilogy I suffered burn-out. It was a difficult book to write, and I must have driven my critique partner 'mad' with all the plot changes! I drove myself crazy. By the last chapter, I was tempted to turn my romance into a murder mystery. This way I could kill off my main characters. Instead, I reined myself in, and wrote a 'happily ever after'. After writing 'the end' on the very last page, an overwhelming sense of relief came over me, and swiftly following behind, a restless boredom. I'd hit a ceiling in my writing. Here I was, a published author of six books, all but one, historical romances, but now, I froze at the thought of writing another historical. I froze at writing, period.

A myriad of questions plagued me. My books weren't flying off the shelves, so should I write to the market instead of following my own muse? Could I do both? Did I even want to write anymore?

Empty of inspiration and ideas, this feeling of self-doubt and guilt stifled my passion for writing. My personal life was going great but my creativity had stalled. Guilt seeped in. I wasn't writing enough, and certainly not at my peak performance. My creativity was on the skids!

I'm a positive person, and I understand how negativity can capture your imagination and lock it away. After several weeks, I stopped beating myself up and gave myself permission to take time off from my writing schedule. Once I did this, I began to relax. Writing isn't my only love, there's my family and friends, my love of traveling, my artwork, exploring ancient sites and religions, collecting comics and manga. I reconnected with all of these, and as weeks flew by, I got the itch to write again.

I began to miss forming new characters in my head. I began to miss facing the blank first page. I began to miss typing those first few words.

I began to miss writing.

What I didn't miss was writing historicals or straight romances. I needed a change, a challenge, a certainty.

Tomorrow's post - How I took on the first c - a change to spur me toward a new writing direction.

Happy Reading!
Vicki Gaia