My favorite piece of equipment on the playground as a kid had to be a swing. There was something about the predictable motion, the view of the world at the apex, and the independent experience that really grabbed me. I would willingly spend an entire recess on a swing if there weren’t other students vying for them.
Depending on your size, getting onto the swing and getting going could be the hardest parts. After that, the keys to having a good time on the swings were gaining and maintaining momentum. You can keep swinging for a bit if you stop moving your limbs and core, but it’s only a matter of time before the swing loses momentum and your view of the world becomes less and less interesting.
During my wildly productive August, I completed several projects, including a novel draft and the “Find the Fun” experiments series. I finished the writing components of these two projects within a couple days of each other, and for a while, I felt accomplished. The novel was finally headed in the direction I wanted it to go. I had never written a daily blog series before, but I had created one that I wanted to read, and one that I hoped would be useful to other writers.
Once the blog writing was done, I needed to create visual components, a way to share the series, and explain what it was and who it would interest and help. I started brainstorming how to write a short story that would suit an anthology’s call for submissions. Other projects and life stuff came up, and I told myself that it would be fine to take a break from my novel and active drafting.
When I returned to my novel, I started taking notes on what I’d written in preparation for the next draft. I had been away from the project for just over a week, but I already had hyper-critical eyes.
As I went through the story, there wasn’t a page I didn’t have a comment for, a question about, or a revision suggestion for my future self. I couldn’t read and comment on every chapter all in one day, or one week for that matter, and as the process dragged on, I felt more resistance each time I even thought about opening the document.
Not only was this turning into a bigger project than I thought, it was taking longer than I wanted it to take, I was running out of ways to make it fun, and I was losing creative momentum—fast.
The thing about playground swings (or writing, for that matter) is that getting started can be the hardest phase of the process. The next hardest phase is regaining momentum after you have lost it.
I’m not off the swing, but my experience isn’t as spectacular as it was this time last month, and I’m struggling to rediscover my creative rhythm. It might take some time to regain the momentum I lost, but as long as I don’t quit, I will get it back eventually.
I’ll keep you posted on my writing life and pursuit of publication, and as always, LET’S GO PIOS! GO AVS GO!
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