Writing For Yourself

Hey folks. D.A. here. I just wanted to take a little bit of time to write out a blog entry and share some thoughts with you all. Lately, I’ve been stressed out about a lot of things. I won’t go into the whys and wherefores, but it was affecting my writing. Not in a good way, either. That is an unfortunate side-effect of everything that life has thrown at me recently. I’ll leave it with this, I’ve had a lot on my mind.

I was finding myself sitting in front of the keyboard and staring at the screen. I wanted the words to come out, but they just weren’t cooperating. It wasn’t just writer’s block. I mean, every writer will experience this at some point in their career. I know I’ve wrestled with that a few times. No, this was different. This was more personal. This was an emotional struggle with no real solution that I could see. The trouble was, I was looking at the problem all wrong. It took a good friend of mine to remind me of that.

Yes, there were a lot of people out there who were waiting for the next book. I get comments on social media or in my messenger asking when the next book will be ready all the time. I knew my family also depended on me getting books out because, since my injury, the books were going to be our livelihood. Our hope of a real future that we couldn’t get on limited disability from a broken cop who can’t do the job anymore.

I felt more pressure on myself than I could easily explain. I felt like my inability to write was not only disappointing the people who have enjoyed my other books but that I was letting my family down as well. And that is a terrible feeling. I mean, I’d already done it before when my law enforcement career ended in the blink of an eye, without warning.

It took an off-hand comment from a friend to remind me of something very important. I forgot that I was also writing for myself. I was writing to tell the kind of stories that I wanted to tell. To create the worlds that I wanted to see for myself, not just to share with everyone else. I forgot that the process wasn’t supposed to be an expectation, but an adventure. I was supposed to relish in writing, not dread sitting there with nothing coming out. I needed to rekindle my love of the stories. In my push to bring stories to you all, I forgot that there was the reader inside of me that needed to be remembered. The stories were a journey for us all, me included.

When I started thinking about that, I felt elated. I felt better. The words began to flow again. The creativity was reawakened, and I felt the old familiar rush to write. The excitement to put words down and see where they would take me. The sense of wonder when my characters took hold of my story and ran with it. I love that feeling when the characters surprise me and do things unexpectedly. That’s when the reader in me is enjoying the story unfolding as much as the writer. That’s what I needed to embrace to feel whole again.

Well, I did that. I’ve been experiencing new creative ideas that have led to some great brainstorming sessions with the amazing people that I have working with me. Steve, Neoma, and Josh, you have no idea how much your input and advice means to me. We’re going to be reaching for the stars and for once, I feel like maybe they might be in reach. We’re going to go to amazing new heights.

The writing, you ask. How’s that going? Well, I’m happy to say that it’s flowing again. I still get distracted by things like YouTube and Facebook, but that’s just me being mercurial. When I focus, I see results. I am working on three manuscripts simultaneously and it’s been a real challenge. One, I hope, will prove to be beneficial to the entire process.

We’ve had a few recent challenges, though. I lost my cover artist. I’m working on that. I’m also working on a few other projects that should help us reach an even bigger audience. With your help and a little luck, we might just find ourselves in entirely new territory. A place where things will start moving faster and our reach grow longer. Believe me, it’s something I’ve been working towards for a decade now. Long hours in front of the keyboard and promoting the books on shows, podcasts, newsletters, and many other places. It’s taken ten years, but the goal grows ever closer.

I want to thank you all for being here for the journey that we are on. It hasn’t always been an easy journey, yet here we are. We’re weathering the storm and the seas ahead are growing calmer by the day. Hopefully, it’ll soon be smooth sailing and we can all enjoy the journey together. As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. The hard work and sweat of a lot of people have gone into getting us this far on the journey. Thank you all for helping pull at the oars when the waves were too rough for the sails.

We’re growing all the time on the YouTube Channel, as well. If you haven’t had the chance to swing by, please do. Hit the like and subscribe button, plus share the channel with everyone you know who might enjoy the books and our content. You can find us here: https://www.youtube.com/c/DARobertsAuthor

Thank you,

DA

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