The holiday’s have always been difficult for me when it comes to my writing. Pressure at work combined with the coordination of family events always led me to sacrifice my passion. This year (in part due to the pandemic) it is a bit different. Since a lot of people are not meeting with family this year, including us, I am able to focus on my writing more. Or so it would seem.
I am not a full time writer; my goal is to get myself there but I am not there yet. My current work is overwhelmingly busy so the added time from not traveling to visit family and numerous holiday parties is instead consumed by additional work, if not just by the stress itself. It is dreadful. Also, despite my above statements, I am not happy about not seeing family. I would never sacrifice that time unless it was necessary (Covid makes it pretty necessary) and the additional emotional aspect of not seeing them is really piling on this year.
A few weeks ago, I focused on being optimistic about my writing goals after NaNoWriMo, and they still stand. My pace may have slowed down this month but I am still working diligently at my WIP. Beyond this, however, we all have those moments of heavy hearts and a bit of weight on our shoulders and this is one of those moments for me. I will make it through, hell my husband, daughter, and I just spent the last few days roadtripping our travel camper down to Florida for a few weeks of warmer weather away from the cold of Chicago, so I can’t complain about a beach to write on (we are isolated in our campsite on the beach so we are fully social distanced). Until I’m settled here though, I needed a little writing/blog therapy to get myself centered (thanks for dropping by, it means a lot).
Are you feeling a bit of added stress this year? What makes it different for you? I’d love to help support you if you’re having a moment. It will get better 😊 Happy writing and upcoming weekend!
Chris Kauzlarich 
I’ve been feeling pretty all right this year, and my writing’s been pretty much the same, though I guess my routine helps with that, because I only set a bar of one sentence per day for myself. That way, even if I coast through life, I’ll at least have a novel every few years or so. Much better than zero, that’s for sure.
Wishing you the best no matter what comes!
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Thanks Stuart! One sentence per day is a great goal. Often people get too wrapped up in big word count goals and writing doesn’t usually organically flow that way, at least not for anybody I know lol. I’m already feeling less stressed today knowing I have some vacation days coming up from my day job in 4 days.
Best to you as well- Have a happy holidays!
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