Becca's Musing - A New Old Adventure

In this early part of the New Year I have been thinking about how I can do things differently . . . whether it's to write harder, work smarter, plan better, or live slower. I have been reading more of a variety of a books and I have started working on a new book of my own -- something that departs from what I've been writing these past few years, but also something that gets me back to my roots as a writer. I have not given up on the kinds of books that have called to me more recently, but there is something satisfying in coming full circle . . . in jumping back in where I began.

As I get started on this new old adventure, I find myself asking some questions I hadn't asked in a long time. Questions such as:

What am I writing and why am I writing it?

Who is my audience and what do they expect?

Do I even know who I am as a writer and what have I got to say?

I think these questions -- and their answers -- should be more obvious to me but over the years my attentions have been pulled away by so many shiny or emotional distractions, much to my dismay. I think I am coming back to some clarity and to some honest answers to these questions and I am pleased to have had some peaceful time to contemplate them.

In the goal setting exercises I have undertaken in the past few years I often assess the goals themselves, if I made them and why or why not, how can I set smarter, more attainable goals, what is the motivation behind them. But the factor in the equation I have not taken the time to assess is myself. What our physical/emotional/intellectual/spiritual make-up is can be the factor that makes all the difference. I think this new self-awareness is going to help me recognize some things I have forgotten along the way and inform some important decisions as I move forward on this new book and contemplate where my writing might go from here. We'll see!

Seize the day!
Becca