Hitting a slump in the writing lately. How can I care about my pretend worlds when the real world is so messed up it hurts? Twenty-two people are dead in Manchester, for no reason other than hate. Twenty-two families are dealing with pain I can’t imagine. So many attacks have been carried out, just in the last two years. Too many people are dead.
The orange cheeto fart that I didn’t vote for is busy chipping away at every program that gives my country worth, hacking down the taxes that pay for my husband’s job (public city employee) and my own (public school teacher), and making the country look exactly as stupid as our allies have always suspected we are.
It’s so hard to set that aside and work on creating stories full of hope. Sometimes there doesn’t seem to be any point in doing it.
Luckily for me there are people like Chuck Wendig, who have words of encouragement and a call to carry on. He writes to remind us why it’s worth it. His article is incredibly NSFW (lots of cussing, be warned) but it’s full of fire for you if you’re feeling the same way. He wrote it back in December 2016 but it’s still very relevant. Find it here, and keep on doing art. As Chuck says in his post ” . . . grab the rope. Add your own knot. Pull yourself along and help others to do the same.”
photo courtesy stocksnap.io and Sergei Soloviev