IWSG 2/1/13

             Hello my fellow insecure writers!  I have come out of my hiatus this week for this wonderful group of writers I have learned so much from.

Okay, enough of my happy-go-lucky façade and on to the latest plague infecting my writing process.  There are three forces working against me in my writing process at the moment.  The first is that I am at one of the most difficult points in the composition of my novel: editing.

            As many of you know the editing process (specifically the first edit of the first draft) is the point where writers really feel like they are working for their pay.  It is grueling, boring, and one must push himself to get through it.

            The other force keeping me from progress is much larger and much more powerful; Seasonal Affective Disorder, also known as SAD.  Aptly named, SAD is marked by depression, lack of energy, and in my case anxiety culminating in depression.  It is mild enough, and under control enough that I can get through each day with a smile that is often times genuine.  However I am often very tired and after pushing myself through my workday I lack the energy to analyze and edit my piece of work, especially because my anxiety and depression easily forms itself into the dreaded anti-muse.
       Also robbing me of my energy is your old-fashioned winter illness.  I have had more colds and illness in the past few months than I know what to do with.  Just as I am fully recovered and no longer need ten hours of sleep a night, I fall sick again.  Never enough to miss work, but enough that work is the only thing that gets done all day.  My laundry and my groceries have suffered as much as my writing.

            New ideas continue to come and I jot them down.  I play out the dialogue and plot in my head as I fall asleep, but sitting at my computer to plug out an idea and edit it is not within my power most days.  Things are already looking up.  I am healthy again, my energy is returning as well as my motivation and I know spring is on its way.  I thank those of you that have bared with me on my hiatus.  I believe when I return it will still be slow, but a bit more regular.  Much like the rest of my life, I continue to learn my way around this world and try to find balance.
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