Why I’m DONE Posting About Works In Progress

 At least four times in the past (mostly on the paid blog I used to have), I have made dire announcements regarding my writing career; namely, that I was no longer going to write novels. In a recent post, I did the opposite, stating that I was back to writing a romance novel that I had abandoned for several months. 

However, not many days after I published that post, working on that story began to feel like having a root canal, my fingernails being removed one at a time by a pliers, and a thousand paper cuts on my head,* all at the same time.

I gave myself the usual pep talks. Told myself that it was just the weather, or my neurodivergent brain acting up. All I needed was to put on my “big girl panties,” push the negativity aside, and I’d get it done.

Yesterday, after having completed around three-fifths of the novel, I abandoned it again.

Maybe – chances are high – for good this time.

I will explain why in my next post.

But… do you get why me making announcements regarding unfinished projects, or about my decisions around my writing in general, is a bad idea?

I can’t be consistent.

Before last year, when I discovered my brain was neurodivergent, I blamed my inconsistency on perimenopause, then menopause. Basically, hormonal imbalance.

As I suggest in this post, it hasn’t been the fault of my hormones at all. It’s my brain’s fault. At some point, I get bored with almost any project I start, and need to change direction for a while before regaining enthusiasm for the thing I dropped. If I ever regain it. 

Also, being Highly Sensitive, I struggle with weather changes (which are much more frequent in the South than up North) and the gravitational pull of the full and new moons. Both mess with my brain chemistry and energy levels.

These factors come down to me having to:

**1. Work when I’m sleepy much of the time, and

**2. Fight feelings of worthlessness and indifference.

Those times when I declared to the world that “I’m never going to write another novel!” have been days when I gave up fighting and gave in to the “truth” that I’m a terrible writer and my novels suck and they’re not making a difference in anyone’s life, anyway.

Only to have the sun to come out or the moon to stop messing with my head, a day or two after my online bemoaning, and upon which I returned with enthusiasm to writing novels.

Sometimes, it’s a matter of being unable to focus on a huge ongoing project (getting the garden started in the spring, redecorating my home) and a story at the same time.

The future of this blog.

I’m going to write mostly evergreen content on this blog. If it’s about something personal, it’ll be about something that is done and over with and how it’s helped me grow. Not about issues I’m dealing with at the moment.

And, I will post whenever I have completed and already published a new work.

You can also follow me on Instagram and/or Goodreads to stay up-to-date with my publications.

Ciao, au revoir, and hasta la vista. J

*I got this last line from an old Weird Al Yankovic song. Don’t ask me which one.