Being Inspired...

Apparently, my mind needed a bit of a writing vacation. I think that's why I've been in a slump for the weeks since NaNo ended.

I mean, it's kind of understandable.

In October, I was desperately trying to finish Call to Action before NaNo began. I succeeded. I finished the first draft mere hours before ringing in November. I celebrated by getting some Menchie's Frozen Yogurt. And then I returned home to count down to midnight.

Midnight hit. I started writing again. Frantically. I was desperate to win NaNo a second year in a row. I succeeded.

And then I started editing Call to Action.

Frankly, I think my brain was screaming at me to JUST STOP IT, ALREADY!

This past week, I was a little concerned as to why I haven't been able to sit down and start working on Book 2 of Care's saga. The sequel to Call to Action. My first attempt at what might possibly be a trilogy. I was worried that I'd burned myself out. I was worried that I was too scared. I was worried that I would forget something significant that happened at the end of Call to Action, since I'm still trying to read through that mess.

In truth, I'm realizing now that I think I just needed a break. I needed a couple weeks of NOT writing in order to get writing again. I needed a short time to just focus on making Call to Action less of a disaster. I needed to get some pleasure reading done and step away from the writing marathon that my life has been over the last two months. I think the break worked. Over the last couple days, I've felt excited about starting a new story. I've felt ready to begin work on the continuation of Care's story.

At work for the last few days, I've been listening to my Book 2 playlist on shuffle on my iPod. One song in particular has been inspirational for me to get in the right mindset. It's a song that I didn't have when I was working on Call to Action, but I wish I had. It's from Scott Alan's newest CD (it's the hidden track), which wasn't released until I was already done writing that first draft.

I wanted to share it with you, since it's been on my mind. Hopefully, this inspiration will stick around for a while longer and I'll actually get down to writing within the next couple days.

Enjoy!