Writers love what they do.
After we get rejection after rejection we continue to write.
We write in good economic times and bad economic times.
The current recession is an ongoing economic and creative challenge.
How do you keep a writing career going? I have struggled with this question during the last few months.
The question is really challenging because I write about loss, grief, and recovery -- topics Americans tend to avoid.
Sometimes I wonder if I should just quit and do something else.
Then I pull myself together and get back to writing.
Here are some of my sources of inspiration.
Updating my resume has been helpful.
It reveals the fallow times in my career and the productive times when I sold several books in one year.
Like a farmer who cares for his fields, I must care for my writing.
I keep this in mind every time I begin a new article or have a book idea.
This may be a good time to read and update your resume if you have not done it in a while.
The need for reliable resources is also a source of energy for me.
Speaking to community groups has made this need more apparent.
When I spoke at a recent conference I learned that illiterate kids and female prison inmates need grief resources geared especially to them.
I do not think I will write these resources, but this information will probably influence my word choices.
Communicating with national grief experts had been yet another source of inspiration.
Though I have not met them personally, after many back and forth emails I feel like I know them.
Two experts asked me to appear on their radio program.
Experts are a source of new information and ideas.
You may wish to contact experts related to your writing specialty.
Writing for a bereavement website is a source of ideas.
I read articles that are posted on the website and blog postings as well.
The blog postings are especially interesting because they are written from the heart.
The articles often have a common thread and this sparks my thinking.
Some readers have sent me encouraging emails and I treasure them.
In this dicey economy I have also done something I have never done before -- entered writing contests.
I have entered two of them and, if I am one of the winners, will be included in anthologies.
This inclusion would help to publicize my work.
Writers need publicity all the time, but we really need it when times are tough.
Sometimes I sit down and give myself a pep talk.
Other writers have had fallow and productive times.
Other writers have survived recessions and I will too.
Writing is my life and your life and we cannot give up.
We can believe in ourselves and continue to produce quality work.
Let's get to it! Copyright 2010 by Harriet Hodgson