Surrounded by Crazy Helps Me Feel Sane by Martha Reed

After three years of relentless transition, I feel like I’m starting to settle in. I’ve hung up the pictures in my new condo. I’ve located delicious and favorite local seafood restaurants. I’ve backed off using GPS for every single Publix grocery store trip, and I’ve made new friends.

The best part of the settling-in process is that it gives me the opportunity to be proactive versus reactive, to take a breather and outline the plans on how I want to structure my writing life going forward, how I want to prioritize my writing time and determine my new 2023 writing goals.

I’ve made the decision to let two volunteer roles roll off at year’s end. Both kept me busy and got me through COVID-19 2020, but they ate up a big chunk of my time. I’ve decided that I want that time back for my creative writing. I’ve given myself permission to take that time back and not to feel like I’m being selfish about wanting to do it.

We all know that it takes time and commitment to be a writer. I used to feel guilty about blocking off writing time until it became a daily habit and my family and friends got used to me doing it. Do you feel guilty when it comes to your sacred writing time? Any tips or tricks on how to manage it?

The thing is, if I don’t write every single day, I start to feel like an imposter, a poser, as if I’m not really being serious enough about my storytelling. But when I’m in the throes of a new story, during the act of intent creation, I know that’s not true, because in the final stretch, those last two or three gloriously frazzled days when the story is gelling into ectoplasm right in front of my eyes, and the words are so good and true that I can’t change a single one of them because nothing I change makes the storytelling any better, then I know in my heart of hearts that yes, I’m a writer.

The irony is that my travels and travails are the very fuel that have recently been firing my imagination because being unsettled forces me to think outside the box as I navigate new relationships, make necessary accommodations, and explore the maze of new lifestyle compromises. Sure, some of the challenges are unpleasant and difficult, but at least I’m not bored. These challenges are forcing me to reexamine my storytelling character choices and to explore new character depth. It’s a wild and wooly world, and in my new more diverse universe, my characters are forcing me to expand my perception, and my mind.

Consider the protagonist in your current work in progress. Now, change his/her/their gender. Change their ethnicity or race. Change their religion or belief system. Does the change make your story stronger, your characters more unusual, more interesting? What does the change do to you, as the author? Please post comments. Curious minds want to know.