Over the last couple of months, I really had my writing mojo going.

I was in a groove. I was writing every day. I was making great progress. Not only did I (finally) finish and release my YA/MG novel Through the Flame (after nearly ten years of development) but I made a great start on a brand new novel (which hopefully won’t take ten more years to release).

But then things changed. I haven’t actually done any writing for almost three weeks. Why would that be? Why would I be making such great progress and then suddenly hit a wall? Is it a bad case of writer’s block? Have I been unwell? Has there been some great turmoil in my life?

If you’ve been following this blog, you may have some idea of what the issue has been. A couple of weeks ago, I posted about how I had just started a new job. That in itself, at least for me, is a pretty big deal. I’m the sort of person who craves stability. I like to settle myself down somewhere and get myself into a nice, comfortable routine. I don’t deal especially well with change.

A big change, like a new job, throws me for a six. All of my regular routines are gone. I have to spend so much time and emotional energy dealing with everything new about the situation that other concerns get thrown out the window.

And this is pretty much what’s happened with my writing. At the moment, I’m focused on everything that’s new. New time to get out of bed in the morning. New means of transport to get to work. New office. New people to get to know. New work duties. There’s so much newness, it all becomes quite overwhelming. In order to deal with all of these challenges, I have very little brainspace to put into continuing my story.

I’m sure things won’t continue this way for long. It shouldn’t take too much time before these things that are so new become routine. And that’s when I can free my mind up and get back into the writing groove.

I don’t plan to just wait for this to happen. I’m going to start finding time to get writing again. I’m going to make sure that when I settle into my new routine, writing will be a regular part of it. I’m even planning to get started on it this very week.

I’ll keep you posted on how I go.