Just have to share a little snapshot of my Pinterest board for the book I’m currently revising. I started my sleeping beauty retelling back in 2015. It was one of the books that got passed on at the time when I queried for it, but I’ve gone back to it this year because I’m eager to resurrect my concept (I love it so much!) and take everything I’ve learned the last few years in terms of writing and editing to totally revise it.
So using my previous draft as a rough draft, I’ve re-outlined and fixed the things I think that weren’t working and am now going through the whole thing, re-writing and editing as I go. And I’m having the best time!
I don’t know about you, but this crazy season of Covid-19 and quarantine and lock-down has been difficult for me creatively. I had hoped to use these last few months of spring in 2020 while my kids were in school to really focus on this book and whip it into shape. Then: boom! Everyone in my family is home 24/7 for months on end. And while I’m grateful we can be home together, my main focus has had to shift to helping my kiddos with eLearning, fixing umpteen meals a day and keeping everyone healthy and sane.
And now that we’re through the most stringent part of that, I’m finally feeling the fog of sheer survival that has been plaguing me the last three months lift, and I can breathe again. I have the mental margin to create.
It’s such a good feeling. If you’re writing too, remember to give yourself lots of grace during seasons where you don’t feel productive. It’s ok because not every season of your life will be a productive one, in terms of what you’re making. Some of those seasons are more for resting and becoming the person who can write the next thing, not just churning out the next thing.