RE-RE-RE-REBALANCING: or, where the hell i've been since october

Anyone who has read this blog or taken even one of my classes knows that words don't fail me very often. But somehow, late this fall, they did. Nothing went horribly wrong; nothing dramatic even changed. I just did a lot of thinking, or perhaps a lot of feeling, about how 2010 had gone and how I wanted 2011 to be. Anyway, my apologies to those who follow, or followed, this blog for such a protracted absence.

This time of professional and creative reflection reminded me (as though I really needed reminding) of how difficult it can be for writers, or any creative artists, to get the balance of their creative and professional lives right. On the one hand there is the imperative of our creative practice and work; on the other, the demands of money and practicality. It's not just the tension between the two that can trip us up, but also the delicacy of the balance and the frequency with which our needs change. What is right at one time, for one project or phase, can be frustratingly counterproductive for the next, and it can take quite a bit of time and self-scrutiny to see when, and what, changes must be made.

For me, the relationship between my work with others and my own writing is particularly hard to get right. This is especially true when my own project is at an early stage, as is the case right now. It's easier and sometimes more fun to poke around someone else's manuscript, and it also seems far more sane to earn something from a teaching or consulting role than to pin any part of my bank accounts to the as-yet unformed, insane, utterly unsalable mess hiding on the hard drive of my computer. Add the normal challenges of family, health, and other aspects of "real life," and I suddenly wake up to realize that it's been two months since I've made any progress on either my novel or memoir in progress. (And then, in the unsnarling of that as well as the aforesaid family and health issues, I'm too muddled, albeit fruitfully so, to blog for three months.)

I'm committed to rebalancing the various elements of my creative and professional life in twenty-eleven. Or re-re-re-rebalancing them, I should say. I look forward to sharing that journey with all of you and to getting some glimpses of yours as well.

In the meantime, if you happen to see Working Writer some day, do ask her if she's actually written anything lately.