Friday, September 26, 2014

In That Scary Blank Zone

I hear about writers getting writer's block. If I'm in the middle of a project, that usually doesn't happen to me. I might have a crap writing day, where nothing I write works, but then I either keep writing until the crap sorts itself out, or I leave that project and work on something else in an attempt to get the juices flowing again. But there is a thing I fear, I call it the blank zone.

The blank zone is when your big project you've been working on for a year or more is finished, and nothing else has popped up to take its place. For me, I always have small projects running. I have my weekly column, or a short story I'm working on. I might have other writing projects going on , for example right now I'm working on books for an early reader series. But even with these small projects happening in the front, I must have a big, exciting project moving along in the background to keep me going, to push me along, to feed my creative mind and keep my writing muscle in shape. When there is no big project I feel adrift. I don't quite feel like a writer. I get scared that no other big project will ever come to me, that maybe my well of ideas is now empty.

That's where I am right now. I get whiffs of ideas that don't pan out. I think of something and it is either too small to test me, or too big and I shy away.

 It's a scary place this blank zone. I hope it won't last long. I hope it is not permanent.

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