Between Projects

I was recently asked by Maccabee Griffin of Beyond the Pen to identify my kryptonite as a writer—that one thing that deprives me of my ability to write. The answer came rather easily. Being between projects.

The decision of what to write next is an agonizing and frustrating one. I spend weeks writing about various ideas, rehashing them, expounding on them in a search to identify which project creates fire in my belly and which will most likely result in a powerful reader experience. I must find both.

During this period I’m uptight, irritable, and battered by a constant interior dialogue. I question the ideas I’m evaluating. I question the validity of my approach. I question whether or not I should pack it all in and open a used bookstore.

I am at my best when I’m neck-deep in a project. Originating and beginning a work, this is a necessary evil against which I have no defense, and one primary reason I find creative work difficult.