Wednesday, December 2, 2020

IWSG: December 20

 Welcome to the last IWSG blog post of the crazy year, 2020. Thanks to all the admins at IWSG for all the work they've done and continue to do to keep this group dynamic and informative. And special thanks to the leader of the band, Alex J. Cavanaugh. To find a list of all the participants, visit this page.

This month's question?

Are there months or times of the year that you are more productive with your writing than other months, and why?

What a perfect time for this question. I had prepared my apologies to all of you for skipping last month and visiting so few blogs since the end of the summer. My excuses are lined up;

1. I've been so busy as president of Pennwriters, a statewide writers group, that I'm buried.

2. I'm spending so much time on Zoom meetings and keeping in touch with my family, that I can't do one more minute in front of a screen. (Do those blue light glasses actually work?)

3. My granddaughter is so full of energy as a 3 year old that I'm too exhausted to blog.

All pretty good and true reasons. Or call them excuses. I know what my problem is. I'm a little blue like I'm sure a lot of you are. I don't mind staying at home. I actually love it. But I'm worried about some members of my family who are also alone and may not like it so much as me. Then I'm feeling the absence of my only daughter even if we do Facetime nearly every day. Not the same as sharing a glass of wine and watching a movie together. I miss sitting in a coffee shop to write. I miss the face to face writers meetings. But most of all, I miss the friends and acquaintances that are not around for a number of reasons. The details are too sad.

I know why I'm blue and while I chide myself because there are others dealing with worse than I am, I can't quite help it.

I also know I'll rebound from this. I'm forcing some words onto the WIP. I expected to finish it in July and now have a desperate hope to finish before the end of the year. I'm walking more even though it's starting to get cold. And I'm reading some great books. I'm making sure to stay in touch with family and friends, as much for them as myself.

"When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it." Henry Ford

Enough of my whining. I loved the end of Supernatural though I cried for the last 30 minutes of the finale. I'm looking forward to the next season of The Expanse on Amazon later this month. There's really not much new stuff on TV unless you like contest or reality shows which I don't. There is one I might watch on HBO MAX, 12 Dates of Christmas, because one of my son's best friends is the male lead contestant. He's done some modeling but this is his first acting job. If you watch it, Chad Savage is the young man.

Most of all with this post, I wish all of you a joyful holiday season. I know many of us won't be able to spend it with family as usual, but I pray you're safe and happy. Take care of yourself and be careful not to take on the job of caring for everyone else. Take some me-time. I'm going to try to go into 2021 with a fresh energy and with hope for peace and health.

"Hope is a waking dream." Aristotle

Has 2020 been a good season of writing for you? Do you ever feel those blues and how do you get past it? What are doing for entertainment in this time of lockdowns?