Late last week, I hit a snag. Not in the plot, but in my attitude. I was feeling low, impatient, inadequate. Truth is, this happens all the time, to every writer. Sometimes just for a second, sometimes for a day, a week, a month, or (god forbid) a year or more. It’s one of those lesser-known truths, an occupational hazard of the writing life that we prefer to ignore or forget. But why do you think so many of the greats turned to alcohol and drugs?

Fortunately there are other coping mechanisms, and most of us take advantage of them now. One of the best remedies available is your writing community, whether in-person or online.

• Ex: the Intern’s “frightful confession.” (Bloody brilliant.)
• Also: encouraging emails from your crit partners.

Another remedy is writing itself.

• Ex: my guest post today at Writer Unboxed, “The hardest part of being a writer.” (Writing this helped me sort out my own feelings and move on.)

Those are places I turned last week, and now I’m back in my zen place. I know I’ll leave it again, but I also know I’ll find it again. Over and over, because that’s how this writing life goes.

(And really, any creative life.)

9 responses to “Recapturing my zen place”