My first publication occurred in March of 1976. Since then, I have had nearly 100 more publications, not including work that I have self-published. This year, 2023, I have already had one article published, and one of my short stories is scheduled for publication in June 2023—possibly in two publications produced by the same publishing house.
So why am I frustrated and unhappy with my writing efforts?
Over the past 47 years, I have had dry spells, we all have, but I have never had one quite like this. For several months I had no inclination to write despite having plenty of time to do so, and I cannot say why this is. Ennui is the first thing that comes to my mind as I struggle to understand my lack of desire to write. If you are unfamiliar with the term, ennui is described as “a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement.” That’s pretty close to how I have been feeling lately. I have had bouts of this in the past, but I have always been able to find my way out of these blahs by writing something—anything, even a blog post like this. That is not working this time, though heaven knows I have been trying.
Lately, whenever I try to write something, my creative flame goes out, so I have not been able to finish anything. So far, I have tried to write the following, only to have them end up in my Work-In-Progress folder:
A song called “My Only One”
A reboot of my very first attempt at writing. A horror story titled “The Monster of Mullville” featuring my Detective Anderson character.
A children’s picture story book which I call “Cat, cat, where are you at,” starring my cat, of course.
An article about how I wrote another article after I met and became friends with a remarkable 99-year-old gentleman.
…and more
I did manage to complete one poem titled “Somewhere Over The Rainbow Bridge,” written for two friends of mine whose dog died recently. Since I am a terrible poet, though, I didn’t expect much. They liked it anyway.
I am unsure what I will have to do to get my creative mind in gear again, but I will keep trying.
Maybe finishing this blog post is a start?