MAKE IT STOP!
Life. Man, it can really wreak some havoc on your creative endeavors. I wrote a post a while ago about finding time to write. I’m trying to take my own advice, but damn. It’s hard.
Most of my writing recently has been on the more professional side, and I have been struggling to carve out some hours to spread my fiction wings. Time is ticking by. I simply blinked, and then I got married and had to write my Round 2 story for NYCM Flash Fiction Challenge all on the same weekend. Crazy! I wasn’t completely happy with the result. I had a plan to write on Sunday while holed up in bed with my laptop and hangover; to be fair, that is what happened – BUT… the hangover prevailed, and I kept falling asleep. Nevertheless, I’m very happy I got it done – I proved to myself that no matter what life throws at me, writing is still a priority – even if it lags here and there and my eyes are so blurred and crossed I can barely read the words that sprawl across my screen.
Pitting yourself against the seemingly impossible is a rite of passage of any writer, and despite it all, it is exciting. My novel is on the back burner, my stories are all in various stages of editing, and I’ve been accumulating those rejections that every writer just LOVES. Hey, at least some of them are personalized? I’ll take what I can get. There are at least a dozen other submissions pending response so we’ll see what happens. But that’s what this is all about. Putting yourself out there, submitting to publications both large and small, and getting serious about this thing called writing.
I’ve recently immersed myself into the social depths of writer’s groups; from Facebook groups to other online forums, I’ve connected with more writers in the past couple of months than I ever have before. I’ll be honest – it’s so intimidating and antithetical to my nature, which is to remain (mostly) anonymous on the internet. Even writing this post from a personal perspective is so weird. But getting involved, trying to pay into the system, they are all signs that I’m growing and taking myself more seriously. I’ve even signed up for another flash fiction contest and NaNoWriMo – insanity has surely possessed me.
I will try to post more work here – it’s hard when a blog counts as “previously published,” so my best stuff will just have to lie in the darkness until I can say HEY – this awesome magazine is publishing this story, check it out! Hopefully we’ll have some of those moments soon, but if not, I’ll keep on trucking. And I’ll pick some pieces to put here, keep things rolling, do what it takes.
I know I don’t have many followers here yet – to be honest, I haven’t actively tried to gain any. Hell, only two or three of my closest friends even know this place exists. But I’m grateful to each of you that has stopped by and offered a comment or a like, and for some crazy reason might want to read what I have to say.
So thank you! I write for myself, but it sure is nice to write for readers too. 🙂
KJ Hunter 