It’s been a little over a year since I decided to actually take my writing seriously. I published a poetry collection. There are a thousand other things I care about. Things I work on in the back of my head, that I tap away at on my phone when I have a spare minute.
It feels good to create. It feels good to make things, and I know myself well enough not to force a schedule or a word count. I wilt in the confines of a schedule. Every now and then I take an inventory of what’s rattling around in my head.
I started a novel a few months ago. I love it. I’m excited about it. I joined a small writing circle to get/give feedback. I’m into it… for 5 chapters. I’m trying. It’s still looming.
BUT.
Then there’s the Vella project. I love a good romance. It’s fun, it’s new. I get to work with a friend and play. It’s lovely and the challenge of exploring a new platform is appealing. So I tackle that for a while.
BUT.
My poetry collection. Oh, my second poetry collection. It is my heart and I love it and it is short form. It requires a lot less development and plotting and revising. Let’s do that. Set release date for October.
BUT.
I’m still in love with the children’s podcast I wrote. I have 9 episodes complete. I lost my producer so I shelved it but I recently read some of the episodes through again. I’m sad that it isn’t getting attention.
BUT.
Social media!!! BUILD MY AUDIENCE! DUMP ALL OF MY SHORT FORM CONTENT! INSTA POETRY! I SHOULD DO A SPOKEN WORD FOR TIKTOK!
Let’s recap:
I have a novel, a poetry collection, a Vella, a podcast, and all sorts of social media content rattling around in my brain and it feels like it is going to explode. Normally it would stress me out. But I am happy. Even having ideas and creating is life-giving. Soon, I’ll likely get frustrated and angrily drop a project. But I’ll do it knowing I’ll pick it up when the timing is right.
There’s joy in the chaos of creation. A little dance we do with ourselves that drives ideas and growth and inspiration. I could fight it. I could let my frustration force me into organization that I’ll likely abandon. I’ve gone down that road a hundred times. But there’s beauty in the process. In allowing the strongest ideas to rise, to develop into their final form.