Sometimes You Simply Can’t Make It Work

And that “it” can be everything from making a plot or opening scene work to making the current life situation work with your writing. I am finding myself facing both of those challenges right now. I promise not to make this into a “poor me” post. This is a post, hopefully, that will let you know that you aren’t alone out there and that it will work. . . eventually and maybe not in the way you think. But, most of all, with your writing as with life, you sometimes have to be flexible and admit something needs to give.

Just shy of two months ago, Mom fell and broke her femur just below the ball socket. The next day, she had two pins put in and thus began close to three weeks in the hospital and in-patient rehab. She’s been home a little over a month and that has presented a whole new series of daily challenges.

I’m not complaining. Far from it. I know how much worse the fall could have been. I know how easy it would have been for the doctors to look at her age and say she needed to go into assisted living. I know she could have been like so many others at her age who simply didn’t have the strength to not only pull through the surgery–anesthesia is never good at this age–or the stubbornness to fight every day to get back to normal.

Twice a week, PT comes in and works with her. She gets stronger with every passing day. But she hurts and that frustrates her. She wants the pain gone. I want it gone for her. But that will take time. Until then, she has to move every hour or so. She doesn’t sleep more than an hour or two at a time at night until exhaustion finally takes over.

In a lot of ways, it is like having a young baby or toddler again. Everything about the everyday running of the house falls to me. That includes all the cleaning and cooking and shopping, etc. It also means I had to take care of making sure the house was a safe as possible before she came home or shortly thereafter. That included finding a contractor who could come in on very short notice to raise the floor in the family room. (Why, oh why, did builders think sunken rooms were the “in thing” back when this house was built?)

That means my sleep is disrupted because hers is. It also means writing comes much less frequently and for a much shorter period of time than before. It also means my brain and the evil muse have more time to think about the current WIPs. That is both good and bad.

And this is where being flexible comes in. As a creature of habit, I’ve had to relearn how to write when the opportunity presents itself and not when I first get up. For one, she gets up with me now. By the time I get her settled in the family room, deal with the animals (including two Siamese cats we’re cat sitting for the next month as well as our own two cats and our dog) and finally find coffee, I’ve been up at least an hour and she wants to talk.

So writing comes later.

And I don’t mind. There comes a point when you have to realize what’s important and even though writing is my “work”, I can adjust my schedule to do it when the opportunity presents itself. Doing what I can to make Mom more comfortable, make life easier for her is more important than anything else.

What does all this have to do with the title of the blog?

It’s really quite simple. There will be times in your life when you can no longer make the habits or processes you’ve relied on for so long work. Life throws you a curve or your muse does (no, Myrtle, this isn’t a challenge). It is up to you to figure out how best to adapt to the changes and move forward. It is up to you to figure out how to face the challenge and move forward.

Now, to get off the lecture–which I really hadn’t meant to write–and turn this around to the writing. What these last seven or eight weeks have shown me is that I had a major issue with Designation: Frejya. It was a voice problem. It was also a POV problem. My gut was telling me there was something wrong even before Mom’s fall. But having had a lot of time to think and my sub-conscious working overtime much of that time, realization finally dawned on me.

So did the way to fix the problem–something I’ve been working hard to do in order to get the book out on time. It will be a close call, but I think I will make it. . . with some changes in the original plan. More on that in another post.

For now, if you are facing challenges in your writing or in your life, take heart. You aren’t alone. Reach out if you need to talk to someone. Don’t try to carry everything on your shoulders without someone being there to at least listen and bolster you when you need it. That is especially true when you need mental or emotional support.

Most of all, remember that adapting to your situation might be a challenge but it is not a sign of weakness. It isn’t a sign that you have failed. It simply means things have changed and you need to change to progress with the current set of circumstances.

Now go forth, adapt and conquer. I’m going to do the same.

Featured image created using Midjourney AI.