A few months ago, I decided to take a break from writing. Honestly, I thought I might have been walking away for good. I didn’t realize it at the time, but in reality I was completely burned out. And probably had been for a few years.
It’s amazing how much stepping back changes everything. Now I feel refreshed, revived, and reinvigorated about my writing.
That starts with the July 2021 Camp NaNoWriMo session!
This round I’ll be working on revising a new book in the Oh. My. Gods. series starring Phoebe’s favorite runner, Griffin Blake. I wrote the first draft of Griffin’s story sometime last year and sent it out to my beta team. And it, well… It needed work. A lot of work.
The beginning is in good shape and so is the ending, but that blasted middle is a mess. So, for Camp NaNo I’ll be revising the first and last quarters and completely rewriting the middle half.
One of my key strategies going forward (to ensure that I don’t burn myself out again) is to keep everything low pressure.
Yes, I have the goal of finishing the revised draft of Griffin’s story by the end of July. Yes, I plan to work every day to make sure that happens. But if it doesn’t…?
If things go off track (in the story, in my life, or in the world–cough COVID cough) then I’m not going to beat myself up about it. I’ll just keep going, keep showing up, keep putting in the work, and trust that the story and everything else will get where it needs to be in the end.