Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click the image to learn more or sign up.
Optional Monthly Question: Quote: “Although I have written a short story collection, the form found me and not the other way around. Don’t write short stories, novels or poems. Just write your truth and your stories will mold into the shapes they need to be.”
Have you ever written a piece that became a form, or even a genre, you hadn’t planned on writing in? Or do you choose a form/genre in advance?
I’m skipping the IWSG question this month to focus on personal updates and a very exciting book release and blog hop. (Yes, I know this is a hop within a hop.) I’ve been a big fan of Chrys Fey for some time now, originally falling in love with her Disaster Crimes Series. I really enjoyed her first book of Sparks and have looked forward to this publication for quite a while. I feel it’s the kind of book that speaks to so many, no matter their creative outlet. So, let’s get to it.
****
Keep Writing with Fey Blog Hop: Share your story about writer’s block, depression, and/or burnout and how you overcame it or what you are currently doing to heal.
~
I began to show the first real signs of burn out back in 2015. At that time, I was blogging literally every day of the week and working to complete my third novel, after publishing a collection of short stories. I somehow managed to release my third novel in 2016 with a pretty decent online launch event and then… well- nothing. I began to slowly pull away from my self-imposed blogging regiment to focus on developing my skill as a writer. That’s when I had the realization that my writing had dramatically improved to the point where I no longer felt comfortable with my previous works being “out there” for the world to see and judge.
At that time, I simply stopped promoting my work and focused on skill-building and occasional blogging, continuing to reduce my number of daily, then weekly, and eventually monthly posts. There was a period of almost a year where I didn’t write and just barely “phoned in” my blogs. By 2018, I’d unpublished my first two novels and chose to focus on publishing children’s books and honing my skills, all the while hating myself for not being better and being more successful as a writer. I realized that I needed to do a complete rewrite of my original novel series, even if I never republished it, simply because the story means so much to me. Yet, as of today, I only have highly detailed outlines and sporadic completed chapters for three books in a series that may never see the light of day again.
Two years ago, I quit one day-job and started another, which was a tremendous help to me in getting through a very long bout of depression. At that point, I’d been in a job that I literally cried on the way to every day for 10 years. And after 5 years, writing stopped being the great escape it had once been. In the past, being able to write had helped me to cope with how much I feared and loathed going to my job, but it soon began to add to the pressure I felt. I didn’t feel safe at work and not being able to create at home left me feeling painfully inadequate. Freeing myself from that horrible day-job was only one part of my healing process. Prayer, family, and reading for pleasure took care of the rest. Even the IWSG and WEP helped play a part in getting me through the worst. Now, I have a job I enjoy and feel much safer in, but unfortunately, it requires a greater time commitment than my previous job and I now struggle to find the time to work on long-term writing projects.
I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to complete another novel, but at least I am able to write again- short fiction, poetry (if you can believe that), children’s books, and the occasional blog. I’m not where I want to be, but I’m way better off than I was. I still struggle to fight the depression that tells me I’m a failure for not writing or completing a novel, but I have resolved to do what I can do and find success in the little things.
If you’re dealing with depression or burn out, I encourage you to read this book and or reach out to a support system or community, where you feel safe, to help you get through it.
~
Catch the sparks you need to conquer writer’s block, depression, and burnout!
When Chrys Fey shared her story about depression and burnout, it struck a chord with other writers. That put into perspective for her how desperate writers are to hear they aren’t alone. Many creative types experience these challenges, battling to recover. Let Keep Writing with Fey: Sparks to Defeat Writer’s Block, Depression, and Burnout guide you through:
∙ Writer’s block
∙ Depression
∙ Writer’s burnout
∙ What a writer doesn’t need to succeed
∙ Finding creativity boosts
With these sparks, you can begin your journey of rediscovering your creativity and get back to what you love – writing.
BOOK LINKS:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Chrys Fey is the author of Write with Fey: 10 Sparks to Guide You from Idea to Publication. She is also the author of the Disaster Crimes series. Visit her blog, Write with Fey, for more tips on how to reverse writer’s burnout. https://www.chrysfey.com/
Click the linky list to follow the Keep Writing with Fey blog hop or scroll down to continue with the IWSG monthly hop.
****
Now, on to the personal updates.
I feel like I said a lot in my blog hop contribution so I’ll skip the personal updates this month. If you’d like to see reviews for what I read in the month of July, please visit the Lit Carnivale blog. The video below is my monthly wrap-up.
****
Think you might check out Chrys’s book?
I’d love for you to share your response to the IWSG monthly question if you’re up for it.
It may take some time, but I promise, will stop by your blog.
****
After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
Susan Baury Rouchard,
Nancy Gideon,
Jennifer Lane,
Jennifer Hawes,
Chemist Ken, and
Chrys Fey!
****
Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #38).
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords #blacklivesmatter
Get Pea Soup Disaster now!
Gregory Green loves his mom’s pea soup, but when he eats it at school, all of his friends make fun of how it looks. He doesn’t think it looks like bugs, and it tastes good! Then at recess, his friends run from him, screaming, “He’s a monster!” Gregory doesn’t know why his friends are being mean until he sees his skin is green. The teasing gets worse until an unlikely friend comes to the rescue—his teddy bear, Sammy. Sammy usually only comes to life for Gregory and his family, but Sammy has an important lesson to teach Gregory and his classmates.
Elaine Kaye got the idea for