Dear WordPress Friends,
I wasn’t expecting to be away for this long. Nor was I expecting my life to change as much as it has in the past few months. It’s been a strange dichotomy of stability and upheaval so please bear with me as I sort out the past 4 months into 1 semi-coherent blog post.
I suppose it makes sense to work my way from biggest to smallest so here we go…
I’ve officially ended the novel-a-month project. It’s been a solid 2 years of writing a new novel each month and with far fewer successes than non-successes, after some down time and reflection, I’ve come to realize that I lost sight of why I love to write. It morphed from a way to purge my imagination of the story lines that were clogging my brain to a focus/desire/need to get something on paper that might remotely have a chance of being published.
For me, publishing should be a delightful surprise, not a goal. I want to re-learn how to write for myself. I’m open with my work; I don’t hide it from people (unless it’s erotica, then strangers and friends reading only please! My family doesn’t need to delve into my steamy sex-crazed imagination). I’m more than happy to share my work with people because it adds a whole new level of enjoyment but at the end of the day, writing should be enough for me. I miss the time when it was.
I’m closing this blog and starting a new forever one. Unless I can figure out how to change the name of this one of course! I want to have a blog that is about more than just writing since I haven’t been able to keep my first 2 exclusively about that topic. Perhaps a big factor in my decisions was the pressure I felt from the name of the first two blogs. When “12 Novels in 12 Months” is staring me in the face each time I log on, I felt like I needed to have some super exciting news and if I didn’t, I was letting myself and others down.
I’m hoping this time around I’ll be able to do it right. Blogging should be enjoyable and positive. I would love to share stories, scribblings and pictures without being limited by the title. As much as I hate to ask people to follow me to another blog, I’ll be posting the details as soon as I have this new move figured out. I really hope you stick with me on my next adventure.
I’m going back to university. This has been a dream of mine for so long that it doesn’t feel real. This is another reason why I closed my big project; I’ll be working full time and going to school part time and unfortunately there aren’t enough hours in the week to do as much writing as I would need to do to continue the novels.
Maybe after I finish my masters I’ll give this another go but at the moment I need to focus on my classes so that I have the best chance possible at getting into the MLIS program. It’ll be a busy few years ahead of me but I want to keep up my writing, which is another reason why rediscovering why I love it will be so important.
Other than that my life is stabilizing. And that is the only reason why I can do what I’m doing. My boss is beyond amazing, I’m still in love with my home and I’m discovering just how strong my support network of friends here really is.
My life is far from perfect and I’m still a wildly optimistic dreamer but I’m happier now than I have perhaps ever been. I’ve tried something significant and while it may not have been a success by traditional (or my) standards, ideas and kernels of potential greatness have appeared and that’s enough for me,
So while this chapter of my life is ending, it’s just in order for me to begin a new one.
Thank you all for your love, support and encouragement over this past year. I hope you’ll join me on my new creative adventure. You’ve been amazing, I love you all.
With all my heart,
Sandra
Sandra: Life is all about changes, and it’s taken me years to get used to that and look at them as rare opportunities. You are certainly facing a lot of them, but it sounds like you have landed on your feet and I suspect you will experience some wonderful adventures. Good luck!
Thank you, Noelle! The Fall seems to be when I begin planning and implementing the new plans and ideas that are most successful. I’m really excited about all the new challenges and adventures ahead of me, which is one of the biggest reasons why my decision to end the noveling project was as easy as it (surprisingly) was.
I hope if you choose to continue to follow my blog you enjoy my posts! Once again, thank you for the kind words and encouragement.
Sometimes setting goals isn’t about reaching them, but rather learning from them. In that regard, you are huge success. I’ll be looking for your new blog. 🙂
Thank you, C.B.! You were one of my original followers when I started out and I appreciate every “like” and comment you’ve sent my way over the past 2 years.
You’re absolutely right- there are so many ways to succeed, not every success is measured in money, fame, power, etc. Thank you for reminding me of that.
Hi honey 🙂
Glad to hear your ok!
Dont forget to let us know the link to the new blog 🙂
xx
Thanks, Vikki! I’ve really missed this community and I’m excited about my new approach to my writing.
The link for my new blog, Scriblet, is in the latest blog post.
Was it? How did I miss that? Lol….will definitely be sticking around to see how you’re doing 🙂
Xx