Leave Your Literary Lamp Lit

I shared this picture on New Year's Day

I could say 2021 was a lousy year for writing. I didn't publish the second book of my journal entries, Light & Momentary Troubles. Nor did I finish the first draft of The Unknown Beautiful Missing Piece or Kill the Locust.  

What's happening to my momentum? Am I in a dry season? If so, how do I come back around?

As last year unfolded, in addition to finally getting to a solution to a personal matter, I'd learned even more about writing. Moreover, I was more receptive to ideas and advice than I ever had been. I read online articles, blog posts, and books about how to improve my craft.

These are the three best books I read in 2021.

I was also more in tune with what the men and women in the critique group I'm in, Word Weavers had suggested when they read parts of The Unknown Beautiful Missing Piece: 

• Be aware of passive voice. 
• Get more inside your character's head.
• You write reflections and dialogue so well. 

Also, after a lot of hard work and attention to detail, Nick Clemente and I took more steps in the project we've been working on for the past year and a half. We hope 2022 will be the year we publish it.

And...I went to one show--the Punk Rock Flea Market. And I enjoyed it even more than the one in 2019. I met more people, some of whom bought copies of my books. I may have gone to only one show, but it's better than going to none (like in 2020). 

Over the past few weeks, I've noticed I leave the lamp lit on my desk, even when I'm not writing. Most mornings, I get up at 4:00 and start my workout not long after 6:00. In those, I write in my journal. Knowing I'll continue after I eat my post-workout snack and take a shower, I leave it on.

I thought about Proverbs 31:18b, NIV: and her lamp does not go out at night. The meaning of the verse is, the light you shine continues even when you're not around. In other words, when I'm not pecking away at my computer or quickly running another pen dry writing page after page in my journal, the next idea is just ahead, and people are reading my books, social media posts, and seeing my Instagram photos--among other limitless things.

My focus and steadfastness as an author were challenged last year, in ways I'd never expected. I knew the enemy wanted to keep me from progressing, going to the next level, to tell me I'm never going to get past a setback I had to endure all year. And I'll be able to win this fight at the end of this month. I'm getting something that will allow me to fulfill my writing goals. I'll share more about that, possibly in my blog post for February.

In the meantime, I'll keep my literary lamp lit.