The Dreaded Lull

Now comes the part where nothing much happens.

Last week, after many months of writing—and an equal number spent not writing—and several days of editing and re-editing and tweaking and picking at my written scabs until they bled, I delivered the manuscript for THE VOLCANO SHAKE to my editor, the ever-patient Faith Williams.

Since then, and as I await Faith’s erudite improvements of my otherwise pedestrian prose, the dreaded writer’s lull has set in.

 Don’t look at me like that; you know what I’m talking about.

Now, I’m aware of the fact I should begin work on a sixth Noelani Lee adventure ASAP, if I am to finish it by the end of 2019. And, yes, some potential storylines are knocking about the vast, empty spaces of my brain. However, what’s most maddening of all is I have no frickin’ idea where or how to begin, which leads me to believe my muse is either on holiday, or is unresponsive thanks to the omnipresent Vegas summer heat frying my synapses. It’s a coin flip.

Either way, and as a result, I find myself locked in a dreaded writer’s limbo. On one hand, I have nothing to nitpick on the current WIP, until Faith sends it back to me and I start revising, adding, and cutting what she’s already revised, added, and cut (sorry, Faith); at the same time, I can’t seem to get my butt in gear on a new novel, no matter what.

Alcohol in the form of many beers might help, but for this pesky keto diet my wife has me on. To make matters worse, my quandary is preventing me from breaking free of our 24/7 real-world shittiness so I can join my imaginary friends (read: characters) for 75,000 words and 300-plus pages of pure escapism.

Of course, I know it will come. I just hope sooner rather than later. But, fellow writer, what do you do to re-stoke your creative fires when you are between projects? How to you snap out of your doldrums and snap to getting to work? Or, do you prefer to let it play out and wait for inspiration to strike when least expected?