Monday, July 6, 2015

The Bathroom Saga



For the last eight years, I've been meaning to paint my bathroom. Before my husband died, we'd started updating it. A new vanity, medicine cabinet, and lighting were installed. We ripped off the old wallpaper and then...

Life happened.

After I semi-recovered from his death, I thought about painting the room. Notice I said, "thought" not "decided." There's a vast difference between those two words. Every spring since then, the project surfaces in my mind like a drowning man looking to be rescued. Each year, he sinks under the waves again.

The same process began this year, but with a difference. I stopped telling myself I was going to paint and admitted it wasn't going to happen. My stepson and I struck a deal, and in one weekend the poor drowning man (namely, my bathroom) got rescued from my procrastination.

Writing projects float in my head with a tag that says, "someday." I've had to step back and re-evaluate my priorities:

1.  With novels and blogging consuming so much of my time, am I being realistic taking on non-fiction as well?

2.  Do I have the physical energy and endurance for a major non-fiction project?

3.  Am I trying to hold onto a season that has passed?

I'm no longer obsessing about all the non-fiction ideas I want to pursue. Many of them can be incorporated into my stories if they are that important to me.

Writers: What projects are you hanging onto that need to be left to others, re-purposed, or outright abandoned?

Readers:  What projects occupy your thoughts that you never seem to start?

Photo Credit:  zeraphim
 

5 comments:

Karen Lange said...

Ah, good question! Good points - assessing them for my own writing as well. Have a great week!

quietspirit said...

Susan: I have been in a state of 'limbo' since last Fall. I am unsure of what way I am supposed to go. I still keep up my blog and my weekly column but I would like to be able to do more. I try not to allow other things to encroach on my writing efforts but it is difficult.

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Karen -

I think we put unnecessary stress on ourselves when we take on too much - even in our thoughts.

Happy writing,
Susan

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Quiet Spirit -

I went through a similar time after The Moses Trilogy was completed. It took me awhile to get direction for the next project.

Thanks,
Susan

Jeanette Levellie said...

Hi, Susan.

My writing has taken a surprising turn since I've been asked to write features and lead-ins for our local newspaper. It's a vastly different style than my usual devotional writing. But I still try to write inspirational stories, to keep my feet wet!

Grace,
Jen