I’ve been thinking very seriously about quitting writing. There, I said it out loud. No self motivation was working and I’d retired myself without ever actually saying the words. I haven’t published anything since October of 2017 and that weighs on me, but not as much as the things I see in the publishing world have weighed on me since I first dipped my toe in the indie waters as a wee green writer.
I decided to take some time away, to think about what I want and my career goals outside of the influence of an increasingly toxic social media world, inside the writing sphere and outside. I can’t say that I have a plan yet, but I have 12% of a plan and that 12% includes stepping back from social media and the negative effect it has on my motivation, ambition and plans. I’m going to focus on my path forward, far from the madding crowd.
Being a writer used to be a solitary pursuit, an individual driven by their own creativity to create stories that eased their fevered minds. Not for the masses. Not for the lists. Not for awards or market trends. They wrote their story as they needed it to be told and I think the writing industry has come full circle. I’m stepping back not from writing, but from the increasingly rabid and rapidly degrading climate of the indie writing machine.
I’m going to go back to basics.
I’m going to write my stories. My way.
