What did my time away give me?

It was only a week away from posting new material, although it seemed longer except when it felt shorter. I wrote daily; I didn’t post daily.

So, where is the flood of new material, Michael?

There is nothing I am willing to post here or elsewhere (i.e., discord) at this time, if ever.

So, what was the point?

I did some serious deep dives into taking on some challenges that I set up for myself, even if most were only thought exercises or cast-off pieces and didn’t produce a ton of content. As I mentioned in the beginning, I felt I needed a reset in my approach towards writing and I think I may have succeeded in tweaking my approach to get out of a rut I was finding myself trapped within.

It was largely a success, as far as I was concerned. The results are still unfolding.

But at the end of my time off, I discovered a strong rough conceptual framework for a new prose piece that also fits in with my desire to explore new territory. I still need to flesh out the idea, but I think that if I can pull it off, it will be one of my more ambitious and better stories that works to some of my strengths.

There is also the matter of personal discovery; I was able to identify what helps define my “natural voice” within the context of writing and saw a stepping off point on the path where I felt that I was leaning away from it. Reading some of my archived stories (only because I was taking a break and wanted to post something) helped point me towards that “natural voice” place. A lodestone of sorts.

Regardless, I don’t feel that my time was wasted. I certainly feel more grounded about my writing and, in my books, that is probably a good thing.