Creator/Destroyer

Song Playing: Legal Assassin from Repo! The Genetic Opera Soundtrack

I hope everyone is having a happy Friday. Mine has been fraught with calling relatives about my upcoming nuptials and trying to explain to my mother that voices messages saying “I have some information about the cabin your wedding is being held at” is entirely too vague for my more than active imagination. “What information?” My brain immediately wondered. “Did it explode? Is there a problem with it? Why is she calling me about the cabin?”

The information turned out to be the box number, so my relatives can Mapquest the location from their various cabins.

*headdesk*

In other news, my work load has lightened because I had the brilliant idea of…get this…taking some projects off of it! I know, I should have thought of that earlier. Normally, I have enough time and energy to take care of several different types of things at once. So editing, worldbuilding, reading for pleasure and reading for education, and studying grammar (yes, I study grammar, I have workbooks and everything) is not too much of a struggle for me. I like variety, even when I am focusing on one project (in this case, revision of my book Masquerade).

So I cut back, to allow time for stuff to crop up and so I wouldn’t feel guilty for not getting other stuff done. I am still revising, just with a slightly slower pace. And I am not focusing on creating anything new.

I have plenty of energy for editing and revision, but even if I had the time, I don’t have the burning passion for creation at the moment. I mean, my new ideas still excite me, but not in that new-shiny idea way. I think right now I will focus less on the creative aspect of writing, and more on the “destruction”. Editing and revision. Not that revision and editing are really “destruction”, I just like the image. But I am focusing on the reconstruction phase of writing, breaking down my book into it’s separate pieces, fixing said pieces, and putting it back together again.



I am also reading more. It seems I need to spend more time taking information in, than putting it out. I made a reading list, one for nonfiction and one for fiction. I just finished “Changes” by Jim Butcher, and I am reading “Under the Dome” by Stephen King, and then I have a stack of books waiting to be read, some of which include:
The Judas Strain by James Rollins
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
The Fate of Mice by Susan Palwick
Galapagos by Kurt Vonnecut
Invasive Procedures by Orson Scott Card

I intend to finish reading the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman, and Watchmen by Alan More. And I have a Roald Dahl short story anthology I want to peruse through as well (if you didn’t know, he writes awesome short stories for adult, not just stories for kids). This is just the fiction books I have waiting to be read.

I have an equally long list for nonfiction. Right now I am reading “The Artful Edit” by Susan Bell, and it’s amazing. So short and simple, and full of useful information.

The fun thing about being a writer? All that reading isn’t goofing off—it’s research! :D

I have experienced phases like this in my life before, but not one so profound. It would make sense though, with the rate and intensity I have been working on my writing the last year and a half. I have written two full manuscripts, and halfway through two more in that time. I have tried to revise the first book, realized it needed to be almost completely rewritten, and started to revise the second book, Masquerade.

It doesn’t feel like much, because I am still editing Masquerade, but I know that’s a good output. So for now, I will focus on revision, and editing. The technical side of writing. It’s just time for it. And serendipitously enough, it coincides with my moving and marrying plans nicely.

So, am I the only one that notices fluctuations in their creative life? Do you feel like you move through a creator-destroyer-creator phase in your writing life?