Writers (and sun) Block

Confession: I have not put pen to paper, finger to computer key for a good three months. I'm not blocked, per se, just busy. My career is a cobbled-together pastiche of teaching gigs, ghostwriting jobs, freelance assignments and...oh yeah...novel writing, and sometimes, no, often, it gets prioritized in that order. I never worry too much about that, I don't feel panic. I know things will emerge in due time. In fact, knowing that I'd need a little 'alone time' this summer to complete a novel, I applied to 5 artists colonies in Europe, a task as complicated as applying to graduate school. Sadly, I didn't get into the one on the Tuscany coast that flew you out, paid for everything while you basked in the glory of the creative muse. Nor did I get into the one in France, the one built by Picasso for his lover Dora Maar. I did, however, receive a partial fellowship to this one just north of Barcelona, Spain. So come July, I will have no excuse not to put pen to paper, finger to computer key for a whole month. The teaching gigs, the freelance stuff - they'll all be on hold as I regain the muscle memory of writing a word, a sentence, a scene, some pages. Perhaps I will emerge with a final draft? Or perhaps I will emerge with a really great tan.

Melissa Clark is the author of IMPERFECT and SWIMMING UPSTREAM, SLOWLY. On June 7th she will be reading with fellow girlfriend Ariella Papa at the Wix Lounge in NYC.