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These are wonderful suggestions - ones I'm going to have to keep in mind. Writing is such a mental game, isn't it? Which is why I'm so thankful for my writing friends, who help keep me grounded. They are amazing. And, yes, reading reviews kind of freaks me out sometimes. It can make feel like it's impossible to please people. Good luck with your writing environment!

P.S. Beautiful flowers. We have those where I live, too. Love them! They're so cheerful, and they grow everywhere.

It is a mental game. That's a perfect description. I'm heading to the Jemez Mountains on Thursday for an SCBWI writing retreat. No Internet. No phone. It will be wonderful.

Are you in the southwest, Caryn? The flowers are chamisa. I've only seen them out my way. But if you're not out here and have them, tell me more!

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Sorry for earlier double comment (which I deleted). But I did want to thank you for an excellent post that really resonated with me. Especially the words about listening to the small voice inside us that we need to listen to the most as we create. I'm trying to listen which is probably why I'm not 'talking' so much on social media right now. Have a fabulous time at your retreat!

Nelsa, I'm glad you tried again. Blogger has been duplicating comments, and when someone goes to cancel the "second" one, both disappear.

So glad this spoke to you (as your post did to me). Though I love the contacts I now have in the writing world and am grateful for the connections I've made through the web, I sometimes long for those early days. I don't miss the loneliness and general stumbling around I did for years, but I do miss the solitude. Nowadays, I have to make sure to create my own quiet space.

All the best on your new project.

P.S. Have fun at your retreat! It sounds amazing. I've always wanted to go on a writer retreat. Someday!

We might be close to each other. I'm in the Four Corners area, right on the border of Colorado and Utah.

!! I'm in ABQ!!

We have an author from CO coming down for our retreat. You should seriously consider coming sometime!

That would be so much fun! I'm about six hours away from you, due to the windy roads. (You know how those can be, especially with all the mountains and canyons in the area.) But then, everything is far so I'm used to driving.

Love, love, love!!!

First my comment showed twice, and now not at all... when all I meant to say is this:

I am put off by this sentence: "I suspect that the people doing the saying have had things pretty easy." What defines an "easy" life? And whose to say those with "easy" lives can't also find something to love in poetry? Sorry Jeanette, but you've just added to the "strange and stupid things that are said about poetry." Though of course I agree with the hiding place/finding place part.

I loved this quote! I think it applies to so many of the arts, as well. I know a soldier who says playing Bach on his violin was the only thing that kept him sane in Vietnam.

It seemed to me as though she was only referring to those who would belittle poetry, not everyone with easy lives in general. It's true, I'd imagine, that there's no such thing as an easy life (but certainly some people have it harder than others), which emphasizes why EVERYONE needs poetry and beauty.

Loved this quote — and the whole book. Happy summer, Caroline!!

I see this as Faith does. What I love about poetry is its ability to use a limited number of words with such power. A reader must be changed (ideally, that is!).

"A tough life needs tough language--and that's what poetry is." I love this sentence. It shows the true heart of what poetry is.

Even though you haven't quite hit your goal, that's still a lot of progress! And Valerie is right: research totally counts.

Caroline, this is the way it is with historical work. This is the way it MUST be. Your friend is very wise.

I love the time I spend researching, but often have to remind myself that I'm still making progress on those days! And then there are the days when research is actually procrastination. What a balancing act. In the end, research can only make your book better, fuller, richer. And I can't wait to read it!

That is great advice. There is nothing more discouraging than feeling stalled, but research is not stalling. I do a lot of little bits of research as I'm writing (probably because I'm a pantser-writer). At this stage in my life I write a lot from my own experience, so my research isn't anywhere near as in depth as would be required for a historical novel. BUT, there are always those little facts to look up, and pictures to remind me what things felt like and looked like. It can make the writing slow.

Great job, Caroline! I'm excited to hear more about this new novel.

Thanks for all the encouragement, friends!

any work toward the draft is moving forward
I'm working on my first novel and had to learn that lesson the hard way this week. After writing 25,000 words just fine as a "pantser", I hit a wall and couldn't move forward with the story. I was so discouraged, and ready to quit. I finally realized it's time to do some more growing as a writer and to make myself write an outline. So although I'm not meeting my word count goals, I'm sitting here at Starbucks desperately trying to learn how to plot. Thanks for reminding me that that work is real progress. : )

Becky, thank you for sharing your experience. It validates mine. :)

Last week we talked about revision during our local SCBWI schmooze. I said something like writing isn't efficient, but none of it is ever wasted. Even if "all" you learn from a writing session or even a whole draft is what you don't want to say, that's progress!

Of course, this is something I need to also say to myself...

Ha! All the time!

I don't write historical, but I like the "real" parts of my stories to be as close to reality as possible so I do a ton of research, (including travel, as you well know!) when I have to. It's so much easier to write the story creatively and figure out where you can bend the facts once you actually know the facts. Knowing the setting, the characters, the possibilities, ahead of time, is essential. So yeah, research totally counts.

Yep. I suspect it's like this with any novel writing, but particularly with historicals. I'm working on one now that had lofty plans of being done last December... but I know that the research I've done is bringing it forward and making it better, so I don't regret not meeting the goal.
Lately my goals have been more like this:
1. Sit down at the computer every morning at 6am.
2. Write something. Anything.
3. Trust God.
Except the third one is really first in priority!
All the best with your research! If you enjoy research as much as I do, you should be having a grand time now. :)

I do this all the time. Sometimes, while writing a draft, there are word-production periods. But then there's a slowdown, and I've learned to trust the slowdown because it's a warning that I've either made a wrong turn or am about to if I'm not careful. Either there's research to do, or I have to take time to read through my notes and dig deeper. Churning out a certain word quota day after day doesn't work for me. That often means I produce a draft slower than I'd like to, but it's less of a mess than it would be otherwise, too.