If the answer is 'been better', then try hunkering down and taking off your critic's glasses. I highly recommend.
Why?
I hadn't written so much off-line since like...2018? 2019? Definitely since before the pandemic. It is also the longest break I had taken from clubs. I stopped checking my Radish and Inkitt completely too.
I don't receive comments on my work--and I am eternally grateful to everyone who's catching up on my completed stories atm--and also...
And it's CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT (yes, so important I'm using caps) I don't look at other people's work critically.
Basically, I took off my critic's glasses 100%.
And you know what? It's helping. It's really helping my mental health.
Normally, I prefer a balanced approach to writing, reading and receiving/giving critiques. This ingredients taken together create a healthy writing soil that produces wonderful crops.
But...I overdid it. I was following so many stories, keeping up with so many characters and plots from my wonderful clubmates' books, that my own characters stepped further and further back.
And editing is the best thing for your story, and it's the worst thing for your ego.
I mean, until you have plenty of readers who love your writing and are vocal about it. But, dude, it's almost 2024, so that's a luxury reserved for a very few.
So, I hunkered down offline, I closed the door of my office and I am working. Now, four chapters (or about 8 to 10K words) away from the first editing pass on my offline book, with almost 40K written, and my writer soul is more fit, more resilient and less prickly...I am not ready yet to be back.
However, I am popping into Wattpad's cantina to wave at everyone and ask my opening question.
How does the writer part of your soul feel today?
And what are you doing to keep it fit?
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