Word Witch Wednesday - want vs. need

I still haven't gotten my writing groove back. I've been good with not sitting in front of the computer so much. I get up, move around, and do other things around the house. While my back has appreciated it, my muse is pouting.

I think she's spoiled.

So I'm trying to think of getting her what she needs in other ways.

I've been painting the interior of the house since the beginning of the summer. I finished the kitchen walls and the cupboards. I've started on the hall and did one of the walls in the living room. Scraping off old wallpaper is rough on the back, so I've just been taking it easy when it comes to that.

While I enjoy painting, it isn't totally fulfilling for my muse. She needs words.

Recently, I've taken up the mantle of Dungeon Master with my gaming group. We've started The Rise of Tiamat. This is proving to be the creative outlet I need in many ways. I've made puppets for the first council session since I had to play ten characters for it, and I've created personal quests with each of the player characters' backgrounds. I beefed up the very basic story in the book and created loot cards for randomly picking treasure when it's found. My muse is squealing with delight!

I don't do any of this sitting at the computer. That has helped a lot. But it has made my productivity with novel writing slow down greatly. This frustrates me as a writer even if my muse is happy just to lose herself in the D&D world.

Being a writer is my job. I must find the balance between my other creative outlets, my health, and doing work. I want to push myself to be the author I dream of being.

I've read a ton of articles. Every one of them repeats: set boundaries, create a schedule, turn off social media, etc. I'm sure many of you have heard the same things. None of that helps me when my body makes every day different.

I ran across one quote that struck a cord. 

I've said it before, I am my own worst boss. I push myself hard. I've gotten a little better, a little kinder. But my inner boss demands more than is reasonable. I want to be a highly productive writer, but I need to loosen the fierce grip I have on that dream. I need to take care of myself and my family, and while that includes nurturing my dream, I need to be kinder yet. That doesn't mean to give up. It just means finding other ways as I did with my creative outlets.

I'm working on it. It's no easy thing for me. Perhaps one day, what I want and what I need will merge together as one.

How do you balance what you want and what you need?

#IWSG for July 2016

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is the brilliant idea of Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the group is to share doubts and insecurities and to encourage one another. Please visit the other participants and share your support. A kind word goes a long way.

This month's awesome co-hosts are: Yolanda Renee, Tyrean Martinson, Madeline Mora-Summonte , LK Hill, Rachna Chhabria, and JA Scott!

The IWSG has a new fun feature. Every month, they'll have a question for people to answer. Here is the first one: What's the best thing someone has ever said about your writing?

My answer: Must I pick one? Every positive word someone has said about my writing is priceless. If I'm to pick one, a person once told me one of my stories made her cry. Knowing that I could hook a reader and make her feel that much is awesome.

My IWSG post:
Whether you're on summer break or having a long weekend, I hope you find time to go on vacation this year. Writing is hard work. The muse loves to relax, and she'll come back eager and refreshed.

You don't even need to go anywhere to have a vacation. Just take a break from writing and relax. Go on a hike, read, garden, paint, surf. Whatever you love to do but don't usually get the time to do it.

It will make you a better writer because you'll be rested, happy, and excited to get back into your stories.

But...

Yeah, I know. Mine doesn't either. But getting away from the computer/office/notebook does work wonders for inspiration.

Have you been or are you going on vacation this year?