i'm a very type-b person-- that is, i'm very non-competitive, non-confrontational, and admittedly disorganized. for a person who really doesn't like structure (well, how necessary structure feels, i suppose-- i actually appreciate structure, just not when i'm forced into it), i'm pretty organized with my writing. i have sticky-note lists on my computer desktop of concepts for both poetry and prose, lines that i've been chewing on but don't quite know what to do with, and quotes that i think might strike something in my head. for a writer, structure can be both the best and worst thing-- it's just a matter of how you use it.
that said, i've been on a personal mission lately to develop the ability to write without having a specific source of inspiration. as someone who has relied in the past on pure "fire" to get ideas out onto the page, it's been difficult for me to try to get anything done without being in tip-top shape or super inspired by god knows what. even my lists have come to fail me recently-- there are a few lines that, no matter how long i let them stew, i still can't exactly come up with what i'm trying to say. on the one hand, keeping a list of my ideas makes it nice and easy to remember the good ones later on, but it can also be frustrating to look through your old ideas and realize that you still can't crack your own code. on the other (original) hand, sometimes little things can be more than enough to inspire something big when you revisit them with fresh eyes, ones that could even change the entire course of every project you're already working on.
all of this is to say... i'm working on a new project! my old manuscript is still in the works and sent out to a few publishers for review, but this new one is a big step in the right direction of something i've been trying to figure out for a long time. i'm really passionate about this one, so i'm really excited to get the ball rolling on it! i think it'll be some of my best work yet, so stay tuned for a *complete* 180 in dynamic from some of my more recent work.
thanks again for coming on this journey with me! i'm really excited to finally start putting out something tangible for you all to check out :)
~m.j