Speaking of the slump (oh, transitions), I'm thinking I was away from other writers (in person) for too long. I haven't gone to the Monday night meeting in a few months, nor have I made it to one of the Tuesday night Write Brains run by Pikes Peak Writers. Plus, the Pen Women take a break during the summer, so none of that either. I know that gathering with other like-minded individuals has been a great inspiration to me in the last year, so not having had that probably didn't help.
However, Friday I had a lovely lunch at the Blue Sage Cafe (yummy, for those in Colorado Springs!) with several women from the Pen Women. It was wonderful! A couple hours chatting with other writers (and artists) put me in a good mood and inspired me to jump back in, as these are all published writers.
On top of that, Thursday evening I received my critique back from the RMFW writing contest I was depressed about. The critiques were very pleasant and positive, and some things were pointed out to me that I think will be a great help. They had questions on a couple things, which made me realize I hadn't spelled some circumstances out as much as they probably needed. I now have an additional plan of attack for when I begin editing again today.
This critique cost extra beyond the entry fee for the contest, but I feel it was well worth it. If given that option in a future contest, I will most likely take it again. If you're ever waffling on a critique fee, I highly recommend you go for it, especially if you have your own questions on the manuscript. Despite the fact that it was a critique, I felt a lot more positive after having read it through. It opened my eyes to why it wasn't a finalist, and that was a big help.
I wanted to pass along something from the form letter on the front of the manuscript/critique return: "Keep in mind: writing is in the rewriting. Never give up."
The same evening I received a notification that Literary Agent, Rachelle Gardner had written a blog post entitled Writing and Rewriting. The John Irving quote at the very beginning: "More than half, maybe as much as two-thirds of my life as a writer is rewriting. I wouldn’t say I have a talent that’s special. It strikes me that I have an unusual kind of stamina."
Well, if that isn't message enough that it's time to get back to editing and rewrites, I don't know what is! Sometimes you just need a really massive arrow to point the way forward.
Or, when we're talking about writing, editing and rewriting, the arrows probably look a little more like this:
Before I wrap this up, I wanted to send out a quick reminder to anyone interested in Rachel Harrie's Third Writers' Platform-Building Campaign. Today is day one, so hop on over and sign up! Signups close at the end of the month.
May you find your Muse!
