The Well’s Gone Dry

NaNoWriMo, Tarot, writer's block, writing 2 Minutes

Or maybe it’s just frozen over. It was a whopping 8ºF at my house this morning about 6 o’clock.

But the point is, I haven’t been able to think of anything to say here for days. Maybe November and NaNoWriMo just drained me, but even during NaNo I was blogging and it almost seemed like I had more to say than usual. Perhaps the lesson here is the more I write, the more I can write. So to try to get the ball rolling again, I decided to fall back on that time-tested method of drawing a Tarot card and see if that sparks something. Sitting at my desk at work it was hard to shuffle my deck surreptitiously so I had to settle for a few hand over hand passes, when out fell

the Page of Swords. Pages are young people, usually messengers of some kind or another. As he grips his sword in two hands, is he in a defensive stance, or is he offering a challenge? I think I’m feeling challenged here. I think this little bugger, whoever he is, thinks he has a better idea and is defying me to prove him wrong. Well, we’ll just have to see about that then, won’t we?

It’s not as if I don’t have enough stories going on. I’ve also been looking around for markets to submit to, so I’ve dredged up a couple that I want to submit short stories to for anthologies that are coming up. I’m at a point where I feel I need to actually write and submit something, or all I’m doing is writing these stories that are never going to go anywhere and what’s the point of that? I keep thinking about an interview I saw with Ray Bradbury talking about how many stories he submitted that were rejected when he was young, and how awful he finally realized those stories were although he couldn’t see it at the time. I want to start that process of sending stuff out, even if it gets rejected, because somehow that feels like an integral part of the process. It’s not so much the concept of ‘paying my dues’ (as they say in show biz) but that with time and the more I write, the better (hopefully) I will get.

I found this on Biddy Tarot and I think it sums up nicely the vibe I’m getting from this card today:

The Page of Swords asks you to embrace a difficult situation and meet its challenge. You could think of these as trials designed to test your mettle. If you accept and prevail, you will become stronger and more resilient. In meeting these challenges, you are encouraged to use the tools of the Swords suit – honesty, reason, integrity, and fortitude.

All righty then. Back to it!

Published by D. D. Syrdal

Writer of vampire stories and science fiction. First novel, "Revenants Abroad", available now at Amazon. If you like a vampire you can go out drinking with and still respect yourself in the morning, I think you'd like Andrej.

Published

18 thoughts on “The Well’s Gone Dry”

  1. While working at another corporation in the 1990’s the management made us all attend a seminar about the “7 Habits of Highly Successful People.” I guess to make us feel better about being left after a round of lay-offs? But I digress….

    Although most of it felt like B.S, I did retain one part. It was about “sharpening the saw.” After a period of hard work hard you need to step away and rest. Or at the very least do something different so you can come back to work refreshed and I guess, “sharper.” (Or maybe I’m just looking for justification for my own weekend laziness?)

    A fallow period makes sense after a very hectic and quite productive month. Could the page be bringing a message of “stand strong?”

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  2. Hi Rosie,

    I suppose a timeout to recharge my batteries is probably in order. I have a hard time not writing, though, so even when I’m not actively blogging, I don’t think a day goes by that I don’t get at least a few words down. I’m even organizing post-NaNo write-ins/get-togethers for the local WriMos I met during November, to keep things going.

    How’s your story going? Are you still working on it?

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    1. Hi DD,
      I took a few days off from my NaNo to finish up the post-Thansgiving re-settling of the house, and to read a new book. My elder child was home and she always disracts me — but in a good way. I also thought I needed to “hear” another voice for a bit, but the itch to write daily has started up again. I couldn’t sustain the intensity of NaNo beyond 30 days, but I could use another push like that for Feb. to give me another project to look forward to. Kudos to you for keeping your local WriMos going, too.

      I’d like to get 50K down before I start reading/editing the darn thing so that’s my goal for now.

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      1. It is a daunting pace to maintain. I’d also like to designate November NaMoNoCo – National Month of No Cooking! Frozen entrees every night, take out for lunch. Something has to give, eh? 🙂

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  3. DD,

    I know how you feel. I’ve been feeling mentally drained the last week. It dawned on me that I’ve been writing every single day (with very few exceptions) for the last couple of years. Whether on Portraits (and all its revisions), my other novel drafts, NaNo, and blogging. So I decided I needed to listen to my mind’s need for a little rest. I haven’t worked on my WIP for two days. Two days is a long time for me! But the little respite seems to be working because I’m already feeling the itch to start writing again.

    And yes, you should definitely start sending your work out. Much luck with that. And remember, we *all* get rejected. It truly is part of the process.

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  4. Hi Tasha,

    I know how you feel about not writing for two days! I start going into withdrawal 😉 And yet I know I should do that, at least once in awhile. I have other non-writing projects I’d like to spend some time on but haven’t. Maybe now is the time to indulge myself in some of that.

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  5. To me the page looks as though he’ s offering to help you charge forward – he’s a messenger, after all, and maybe he wants to help you deliver your prose to a wider audience. Could it mean that you don’t have to do everything all by yourself, and that there are those willing to assist you?

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  6. Hmm, well, I don’t know what kind of assistance I could get with my writing. It’s not really a team sport 😉

    I’ll have to take the time to do a full spread, or at least pull more than one card.

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    1. Oh the writing’s on you, for sure. I think the young guy is looking to help you get published. I’d accept the assistance of anybody with a solid 2-handed grip like that 😉

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  7. Hehehe! Well, I will have to be on the lookout for anyone who might be able to help. I just hope he hangs around until I have something ready to submit.

    At the TGIO party a whole bunch of people read bits from their NaNo novels. There was no way I was about to get up and read anything from that drivel I wrote. It is SOOOO not ready for public consumption. It’s going to be many many months of revising and editing before I feel it’s ready to show to anyone.

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  8. Must be going around. Until I saw the news the other day, I though my only post this week was going to be headlined: I got nothing.

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    1. The Winter Solstice is coming, which I love personally, b/c it represents the triumph of hope over personal experience (our personal experience right now is cold and dark, but we can have faith that it’ll get warmer and lighter!) but maybe the paucity of sunlight is affecting our brainlight? Stay hopeful, and stay warm, kids – your muse will return, just like the sun.

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  10. Being above the 45th parallel here we get shorter days than many places. I went through this earlier this year as well, back in February or March. But then I wasn’t coming down off NaNo last December, either.

    And Happy Solstice! See, you’re more pagan than you think 😉 Just don’t mention it to your parish priest.

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