Well, it’s been a long couple of weeks…with lots of traveling (for my day job). Still, I was all ready to write about my triumphant return to my writing this week, right on schedule, when I was knocked nearly flat by a bad flu/cold/bug/whatever during the last few days – and I’m not someone who generally gets sick. I wasn’t able to take off work due to some commitments, so I soldiered on – slow and miserable –which did include getting up on that horse again and starting on my new WIP (BAD LAND is currently with my agent).
I don’t know which is worse, though: feeling sick, or that sick feeling I’ve had over the last two weeks while traveling, when I was “away” from my writing. Sure, it’s not like I haven’t been doing some creative work and brainstorming, but I haven’t actually in my chair, putting the words together every morning like I’ve grown accustomed to. I’ve learned that’s when I feel my best, and it’s not hard for me to draw a connection between the lousy way I’ve felt, and the two weeks of traveling, eating junk, not sleeping, and not charging my creative and emotional batteries with my regular writing. As I’ve said here before, I’m a process and schedule guy, and when that schedule is thrown off, I tend to flail a bit. Or, a lot.
As I am writing this, I’ve turned the corner and I am starting to feel a bit better; and again, I was even able to eke out some work. The most important take-away is that for a writer your mind/body/spirit are your tools of the trade, and it’s important to do whatever you have to keep those tools sharp.
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