I Need a Writing Reset

I’ve Fall Off on Medium

My writing on Medium in February has not been as productive as I hoped. It’s almost the middle of the month and I only have four essays on the platform. It will be five once I finish this piece. Nevertheless, my production on Medium is down. There are many reasons why.

First, I’ve started attending an online poetry writing class. It meets every Tuesday evening for three hours. The three hours do not drag. It moves swiftly from check-ins to workshopping poems. The instructor provides us with great examples of poems that provoke dissection and discussion. The poems so far have spanned different generations from Lucille Clifton to Chen Chen. The examples have provided the visuals I needed to reshape my poems.

Secondly, I’ve been so caught up with my poetry class that writing on Medium has been placed on the backburner. But I realize that’s a weak excuse. I need to be writing in both genres — nonfiction and poetry. However, my excitement over pushing my poems to a new level has distracted me from writing long-form. Meanwhile, my fiction has been tabled because I’m not sure how to proceed with the story. It’s in my head but transferring it to the page has been daunting. In addition, I need to do more research on African mythology for the story. That will take time.

Finally, work has taken up a lot of time this month. It continues to leave me exhausted which activates my depression. Once that happens, all I want to do is sleep. I’ve been sleeping a lot and that takes time away from everything else. I get frustrated which feeds my depression. It’s a vicious cycle.

I always try to give myself a pep talk before I get home. I’m going to do certain activities before I take a nap. My nap will only be an hour. Last night, I set my timer and didn’t even hear it go off. I woke up at 1 am!

But every day is a new chance to get things done. I’ve posted a poem to Medium and I’ll post this piece. I’ll write one more piece and then do some other chores. My home is a mess and family members are making it messier. I need to prep some poems to submit to contests. The deadline is February 15th. I don’t want to wait until the last minute. I’ve missed enough deadlines this year already. Each day, I must do better.