A few days ago, I was complaining to a friend about how I hadn’t done any writing in two weeks. This is highly unusual for me. I appreciate that my writing style includes periods of down time, but this wasn’t it. Nope, I’ll admit it. I was depressed.

Seems like forever and a day I’ve been working to improve my ability to write – studying craft, plotting, characterization, you name it. Yet despite my struggles, the pages I produce seem to fall just short of the mark. And so I was depressed. Interesting given that the theme of this month’s newsletter is motivation.

Today, as I write this article, I am burning to write. So how did I go from dejection to enthusiasm? A true blue writing buddy, that’s how. Someone I trust implicitly.

We sat down together and talked about my WIP. I crybabied about this and that and whined about how lacking in talent I was. She listened sympathetically for a few minutes then, like a general, charged in and let me have it. She countered my complaints, argued that in most things I was being stupid (although she said that in the nicest possible way!) and she gave me honest criticism of my project.

When we disagreed, I told her what I was hoping to bring off on the page. She told why she thought I’d gone astray. Then she helped figure out how I could fix the problem.

Classes, meetings, conferences, workshops –- all good venues for learning. But there ain’t nothing like a one-on-one session where you talk ad nauseum about your own project. RWA® and in particular HBA, have brought many people together. I’ve been fortunate, blessed really, in the wonderful, caring, inspiring friends I’ve met through our chapter.

So for me, going from dejection to enthusiasm comes at the end of a good long writing gab session.

I highly recommend it.

Ann Peake is Houston Bay Area's first PRO Liaison. When she's not mentoring and serving her HBA constituency, she writes gripping fantasy novels with strong romantic elements.

Copyright © 2005 Ann Peake. All rights reserved. Used with permission.