Writing It Out... How to keep going when the world falls apart.

It's hard to focus on the people and the plot of a make believe world when the real one is so intent on intruding.  But we have deadlines, whether we've given them to ourselves or etched them in stone with someone else.  Part of being a professional, of being a "real" writer, is working even when you don't feel like it. 

In many ways, writing is a solitary profession and it is one where you are largely accountable only to yourself, at least until you reach a margin of success with it.  So where's the motivation to keep plugging away when things have gone crazy around you?  Sometimes, writing is therapeutic in that sense, because at least in the world you are creating on the page, you are in control. 

I lost a dear friend today, someone that many years ago I thought would be my Happily Ever After.  That wasn't to be, like so many things, but while our romance fell apart, our friendship actually became stronger.  It hurts me to know that he's no longer in my world, that I won't hear his laughter or see him quirk his eyebrow sardonically at me (and yes, he really did that, just like the hero in a book).  But, I am happy that he isn't suffering any more, and that he is no longer dependent on other people to care for him, something that rankled him to no end I am sure. 

With all that weighing on my mind, the last thing I wanted to do was work on my book.  Reading and proofing and editing and rewriting seemed unimportant in the overall scheme of things.  Until I realized that getting lost in my story gave me an escape, gave me an avenue to get away from all that was going on and focus on something positive just for a few minutes.  Writing is a profession, yes.  But it isn't a job.  I don't write because I have an obligation to do so, but because I love the art of it, the craft of it.  And at times when things are spiraling out of control elsewhere, I find solace in it.