Suffice to say, I've been pretty non-existent on all of my social media sites lately - Twitter, Blogger, QueryTracker, etc. I seem to have written myself into a corner and allowed my muse to take a quasi-permanent hiatus...that, or when I returned from my vacation from Maui last week, my muse decided not to come home with me (wouldn't blame her there, as Maui is a much better place than Seattle, right now).
I simply cannot write. I turn on my computer and just stare at it...waiting. And waiting. Yup...still waiting. Waiting for some type of inspiration to strike, something to get my creative juices flowing again...something, anything...but there simply is nothing.
Now I've heard this happens and I'm pretty sure it's normal...however, after four plus years of writing, this is the first time I've been at such a loss, for so long. As of today, it's been 6.5 weeks since I've written more than 150 words. And in my book, that's pretty pa-thetic.
I'm not quite sure what the reasoning is, behind my lack of creativity...it could be that I received two rejections from my top two agents on my current manuscript, within the last month. The first one was from Writer's House...they've had my full since May and the response - while I'm so grateful was personal - was nonetheless, a rejection...even though she was "on the fence". The other was from Laura Rennert (she reps Jay Asher - THIRTEEN REASONS WHY and Maggie Stiefvater - SHIVER series), who was definitely a personal fav. for me, without question. And while I get rejection comes with the territory, it still doesn't make it any easier.
So, what to do? I've been reading - currently, I'm enjoying THE BOOK THIEF, by Markus Zusak...outlining my potential attempt for NaNoWriMo (which at this point, seems absolutely crazy...because I'm thinking if I'm going to be writing, it should be for my current WIP...but we shall see)...outlining potential changes to my current WIP...re-reading and revising my current WIP chapters...and simply, not doing anything at all, that relates to writing.
I guess my question to anyone else out there that's had this same problem - what did you do? How did you get your muse back? At this point, I'm open to suggestions...anything to coax my creativity back onto the pages of Word.
And once she's back...well...she better sit down and hang on!
Until next time...