Life as research

It’s amazing how I saw two posts today that were exactly what I needed to hear.

First, is a post by Jami Gold about “crap jobs” and how they can play into our writing: The Value of “Crap” Jobs.

And then this great post from writermummy about life’s craziness, getting lost, and how it plays into the research for a story she’s writing: Writing Research and Pre-Holiday Blues.

I’ve had a lot of experiences, good and bad, that have played into my writing. I didn’t think much of it at the time because I hadn’t started taking writing seriously yet. Even now, I don’t take it as seriously as I should, though recent experiences have told me I need to change that.

Times are difficult right now. It’s easy to become discouraged. Sales have dropped and I know it’s because I haven’t gotten any content out this year. I don’t see where that’s going to change any time soon. In fact, I see my life becoming very tumultuous over the next month or so. I have no idea when it will end. I can’t say that I won’t be publishing, blogging, tweeting, etc. I also can’t say that I will. I have no idea, and it’s driving me crazy.

Part of the difficulty, too, is that I tried looking for a job in my area. Big mistake. Right now, it would do my family more good for me to just focus on content than for me to try working outside the home. Didn’t expect that.

But it was nice to remember that we all do what we have to do, and there’s nothing wrong with that. If a good “crap job” comes along, I’m not going to turn my nose up at it or feel like a failure. I’ll just look at it as a research opportunity. Heck, I may even end up enjoying it, like I did housekeeping.

In the meantime, I’ll keep writing.

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