Do you ever feel guilty for not writing? Do you ever feel like you should be working on [insert work-in-progress here] but instead you feel pulled to other projects?
I’ve been feeling like that lately and battling a sense of guilt that I’m neglecting my stories. However, I have come to accept that I am not just a short story writer. I do love doing other creative things. Sometimes those other creative things draw my attention and that’s okay.
My latest project has been to work on a blog of mine called LadyUnemployed.com. I started it over 8 years ago after losing my job out of college. I wanted to talk about being unemployed and my job search experiences. Then I got another job several months later and my blog took on the form of talking about my new job and hopeful career path.
Over this past week, I’ve deleted over 100 posts from that blog. I had various reasons to delete them. Some ended up being far too personal than I’m comfortable with and others were far too embarrassing to leave up there. I didn’t regret deleting so many posts (partly because of the fact that WordPress is nice enough to save them in the trash area in case you change your mind). However, I did wonder if this blog was worth it anymore. I even thought about deleting the blog altogether at some point.
I got motivated again when I looked at an old post I wrote talking about being a freelancer. I had written some tips for a newbie just getting started and I ended up updating it extensively.
Now, I’m back in the saddle and jotting down notes for what I want to write next.
And so all of this brings me back to what I first started talking about – it’s okay to be pulled in a different creative direction.
It’s not like I’m not working on my stories, but I’m allowing my creative energy to go towards something else. I think I’ll always enjoy blogging and be pulled towards that platform. And that’s okay.
I find that to stay inspired, it’s essential to not be rigid with yourself. Explore. Try out. Express yourself in new ways. You’ll be surprised by what you find.
I think in my life I've tried every creative path there is, all the arts. But I've always come back to some form of writing. Still,as you say, sometimes you have to expand. It helps if, when I get frustrated that the book isn't going well,I can get a thought and turn it into a short story. Suddenly life is good again! Really thought-provoking post.
So true Eugenia! I think you're right – most of my creative attempts return to some form of writing. I think that's my "center" so to speak.