So, I'm going to preface this title a bit. Many of us feel the need to rush, that we have to get something done 'now' or else we failed at the task. In many situations, even if that isn't the case, if we are unable to do it, we feel like the failures ourselves.
As a writer, I've always felt frustrated when I couldn't finish a project or even start one. I would always feel like I screwed up and get annoyed with myself. After all, why couldn't I just sit down and write it?
Yet, the thing is, sometimes we really do just need to wait. We need to stop letting ourselves think that putting something to the side to work on later is a bad thing. Sometimes our minds just need time to think it over and that's something that's hard to accept, especially in a society which emphasizes constantly moving and being busy.
So, for this post, I wanted to share my most recent experience of how waiting gave me exactly what I needed.
The History
I've been a writer for many years. Even in High-school I was constantly working on stories. However, it wasn't until college that I got an editor for my first book, The Elifer Chronicles, Epidemic. That particular series is one I've been writing and working on for years. Book three had already been written over two years ago, but only was recently published due to circumstances. (I will link you to the blog post when it is up to read.)
So, with it being written so long ago, I was always... annoyed when I couldn't figure out how to start book four. I knew what I wanted to do. I had written out the outline when I was nineteen, almost twenty.Yet, book four never wanted to come, it never wanted to work with me.
Other Projects
Soon enough, I began working on other projects. Requiem of Stone, Ghost of a Memory and even my newest series which is still in the works, The Raven's Crux. Yet, even as I worked on all of these, book four remained silent, the pages blank even though I already had them up for whenever I needed to write them.
These new projects took off. I was already on book three of Requiem, I was enjoying writing the second book in The Raven's Crux series and I had, at this point, almost given up on that other project, on the one I had started with. After all, it had been years since I had done anything with it and I had so many other things to focus on. So, while it nagged at my mind, reminding me that I needed to write it so I didn't leave the series hanging... nothing happened.
The Spark
We've all experienced that moment where something pulls at you, to sit down and DO something. You're not sure why, especially since it's not something you've done in a while, but you feel that ache, that need to do it. About two days ago, I felt a need to work on Book Four of Elifer again. I just rolled my eyes the first day. After all, nothing had really changed and I needed to work on editing The Raven's Crux.
Then, the next day, I felt that urge again and, sighing, I sat down at the computer, pulled up the blank document and... started writing.
The words flowed as if they had been there, waiting in the wings for years. Within a few hours I had put down thousands of words more than I had done in years. Ideas, theories, everything just hit me like a bag of bricks. I, for once, didn't want to stop writing.
When I finally pulled away, I had written over five thousand words and felt giddy with both elation and relief. The thing I had been about to give up on, the anxiety of not being able to do this, in that moment, it all fled. I was reminded of what it felt to be PROUD of being a writer, something that I had only somewhat felt recently. That moment when it all just... clicks into place is one of the best feelings in the world.
And it didn't stop there.
That night, as it got late, my mind was still racing a thousand miles an hour. Things I had been stuck on suddenly made sense. Decisions that I had been uncertain on where finally solidified and things settled into place on what I needed to do. Afraid of losing it all, I quickly threw it on my phone as my eyes grew heavy from the NEED to sleep. That excitement continued into the morning as I managed to get everything down properly and I let out the heaviest breath of relief.
Conclusion
After all those years of stress and worry, it was a single moment that relieved everything. It was a nice reminder for myself as well. I gave myself time, let myself work on other projects and do other things and, eventually, it paid me back by giving me exactly what I needed.
Sometimes continuing forward is exactly what you need to do. It might seem hard, the need to get it done NOW is overpowering at times. However, letting yourself wait can sometimes be more beneficial than trying to push something you are not ready for.
This project? I wasn't ready for it. I hadn't had the experiences yet that were needed to continue the story and so, waiting gave me the experience to finally let me understand and flesh out what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go with the story.
This was a moment that I was just simply not ready for and, for many writers, this is a hard idea to swallow, myself included, but give it time. After all, sometimes time is all we need.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Julie Boglisch is a prolific author. At the age of twenty-eight she has already created and published multiple works. Her second series, The Elifer Chronicles, received a glowing Kirkus Review. She is an artist both in character art and cover design and is the creator of her own covers for her works which can be found here:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Julie-Boglisch/e/B07GM558B6?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1624455287&sr=8-1