Continuity...

 Continuity...what a wonderful little word, but sooooo difficult to do. 

I have a light at the end of my tunnel and it isn't a train, thank goodness. So maybe I will be able to practice continuity more.

My problem is, way too many ideas and not enough time or even energy sometimes, to keep going. I get overwhelmed. I do it to myself, naturally. I have to stop and think about what is more important? Getting all of these little ankle-biting projects done, or laundry? Or dishes, or whatever is hanging over my head like the Sword of Damocles.

But then I have to stop and remind myself, you can only eat an elephant one bite at a time.

So, my almost finished, rebranded story, Blood of My Sisters, is looking good. I was dedicated to it and plugging along when, out of nowhere like a pop fly ball, Walk the Night shot into my brain and demanded attention.

All because of a Tweet I saw from an agent's MSWL (Manuscript Wishlist). Not that I'm looking for an agent yet, but still.

At first, it was just going to be a short series of stories, until I finally figured out where I was going with the story. Then it became a full-blown WIP.

But, I have enough of it out of my head to continue on with BoMS. It also helps that I now belong to a real life writing group and man! The discussions are amazing, the help and support is just wonderful. 

I was so scared at first, thinking, what the hell do I have to offer to these people? They're going to think I'm some kind of flaky weirdo. Well, I can be. I am. But that's beside the point.

One of our meetings, two of the ladies who started the group were discussing their WIPs and how they were so afraid of not getting the setting right. One writes westerns, the other writes historical books. They were so anxious about it and it really put them in a state of panic and imposter syndrome. They each read a part of their stories where they felt it needed help.

By the end of it all, I looked at both of them, jaw slightly dropped. I told them, their writing styles and their author voices put me right in the scene without knowing anything else about these stories, never having heard any of their previous works before.

They were spot on. The western story was very emotional and I could picture every detail. The characters weren't overly descripted, which allowed me to put my own face to the character. Same with the historical story. I could easily tell that those period details were damn near perfect.

I said as much. I told them, even if they didn't get a certain detail right, yes, they would hear about it, but I don't think they'll get much flack for what they wrote. It was a wonderful, supportive writing moment. 

One of them is to blame for telling me to work on Walk the Night! Ha! It was great fun. So, that in itself is helping me get back to my writing and blogging habit. 

How do you get back into your writing after a long pause? I'd love to hear what you have to say!