Two months ago, I announced the name and some background information on my current WIP, On the Flip Side. On March 1, 2022, I officially picked back up on working on On the Filip Side, working off the beginnings of the WIP that I began way back in January 2014. So, how has writing progress gone so far?

March 2022

Like I mentioned above, writing officially kicked off on March 1, 2022. For the first couple weeks, I basically just referenced what I had already written back in 2014, which was around 5,000 words, making tweaks when needed. This easily kept me on track toward my goal of reaching 10k by the end of the month. Initially, I was worried that I would lose steam for writing once I ran out of pre-written material, but I was able to get a steady stream of words written most days, and ended up writing 16 out of the 31 days of March, ending up at a grand total of 10,032 words written by month end! 🙂

Coming off just finishing my first trilogy, I was worried when diving into On the Flip Side that I would struggle with starting a new story with new characters. I think it helped a lot that I already had some background information to give me a good starting place, but as April approached, I found that the first hurdle for this WIP was just a little further down the path…

April 2022

I’ve hinted around lately that I’ve been having issues with a certain area of my personal life. Well, it hasn’t gotten any better in April. It has been, quite literally, an everyday struggle. My husband, thank God, has been the sweetest support system for me, being my confidant as I deal with the intense stress, but writing—supposedly my hobby for of escapism—has not been something I’ve turned to this month, and I’m a bit fed up with myself over it, to be honest.

As of the time I’m writing this post (April 23^rd), I’ve written a whopping total of three days this month, for a measly 870 words. ☹

This is really irritating me because I want to write. I was making such good progress the first month in, and I have a solid outline I could be going by right now… but this situation in my life right now has made me so depressed during the times I normally write that I just don’t want to do it. I’d rather just browse on my phone or pray to God for help in this situation than work on this story.

I’m a firm believer in not forcing myself to write, even though there is a lot of truth in the “you can’t edit a blank page” sentiment. So, I’ve been trying to give myself grace this month (as much as I hate seeing my writing productivity suffer because of it), so I won’t get burnt out on this WIP. It just sucks, to be frank, because while finishing out The Dream last year, I was so excited to get to work on the Oliver twins’ story.

I’ll just end this post by asking for prayer for deliverance from this situation in my life. It has been something I’ve prayed about for years now, but has just recently become increasingly more difficult to deal with on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, I’d also like to announce that I’ll be taking a blog hiatus for the month of May. As I’ve said in a few prior posts, I’m behind on pre-scheduling blog content, and this has only been adding to the stress I’ve been experiencing lately. By taking May off from blogging, I’m hoping I can get back on track with that so I’ll have more extra time for writing during the month and not have to scramble to write blog posts.

I’m sorry if this is disappointing to anyone. I’m disappointed in myself for allowing the stress to get to me in this way. I’ve prayed over it, I’ve continually brought it to God, and lately it just seems like it’s getting worse by the day. Again, prayer would be much appreciated, and I’m sorry I won’t be active next month. I plan to resume posts on Authoring Arrowheads on Wednesday, June 1^st.