Let It Be
How many songs are forever lodged in our heads? I’ve always loved the opening lyrics of “Let It Be,” which are copyrighted, so I won’t share them here. Like so many of the songs from my teens and early adulthood, I home in on memories of that time that return every time I hear those familiar tunes.
Some authors create a playlist for each book they write. They say that hearing those songs reminds them of the characters and the story they want to tell. Other authors develop a playlist for each point of view character.
I’m an odd duck who prefers to have it completely quiet while I write. I didn’t always have that luxury. Many days would find me waiting at a kids’ activity with pen and pad in hand. Those were the days when computers were becoming quite common at work, and somewhat rare at home. So those longhand pages had to be uploaded into the computer and I found that to be depressingly tedious.
So we upgraded to get home computers as did everyone else in the world that could. Pretty soon everyone had mini computers in mobile phones.With our current technology, you can dictate your story into your phone or computer and it will print it out for you or save it to a file. If you have a heavy accent or are otherwise speech-challenged, you may want to read the content carefully because auto-correct can be wickedly cruel.
This fall marks my 20th anniversary of publication. I am in the process of working on my fall release, which will be genre fiction book number 30 for me. And as technology keeps evolving and does more for us, I find it harder to learn all the steps for everything. Now my head is telling me to Let it Be, Let it Be. While I won’t walk away from two decades of friendships and fans, I am going to step back from writing for a while around the end of the year.
This upcoming time-out isn’t entirely because of feeling a bit like a dinosaur, but I need to know if I still have a message/truth that needs to be revealed. With every book I’ve written, there was always something I wanted to say, some wrong I wanted to right in fiction, some characters/vocations I wanted to research. So, I’m going to listen to my own song and follow where it sends me.
For a chance to win a print (US only) or digital format of CANDLE WITH CARE, which I wrote as Valona Jones, answer these questions. Have you ever loved your job or activity so much that you had a passion for it? How do you decide what to do when a change might be needed? The winner will be randomly selected on the coming Tuesday.
Want to learn more about our author Maggie Toussaint, who also writes as Valona Jones? Visit her WEBSITE
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Posted in Let's Talk, with Maggie Toussaint • Tags: Let It Be, Let's Talk, Maggie Toussaint | 24 Comments
Hi Maggie! I find that I need to make a significant change in my creative life about every ten years or so. I’m approaching ten years as a published author. I feel the winds of change swirling around my feet. It’s important to pay attention to those thoughts. HUGz
It is a journey, for sure! I believe that one of the reasons I am drawn to paranormal mysteries is that I want to understand more about intuition…and why so many don’t pay attention to it. I almost used another oldies song as the theme for this post, “Turn, Turn, Turn” which used the Bible passage about to everything there is a season. Almost, except that to me the “Let it Be” song implies listening to your intuition. Anyway, I hope we both figure it out!
Good Morning!
I have a passion for my quilting. I never dreamed I would have made so many quilts in my life that I have. I love making and giving them to people. It’s been a true blessing!
It is so nice to find your passion, Sherry! When I’m writing, it never seems like work, and I’m sure that’s the way it is when you’re in the middle of a quilt project.
I believe we have an internal clock that lets us know when a change is needed. When you make up your mind to do something it is a powerful motivator and change is just around the corner. Heed your sixth sense and follow your heart. Deborah
Thanks for the advice, Deborah! I like the idea of an internal clock. I will put that in my visualizations!
Maggie, we all occasionally need breaks to step away and reevaluate the next part of our journey in life. No one should ever feel the need to justify taking that step. Enjoy your time away from writing. I have a feeling, the down time will act as a catalyst to many more stories you’ll feel compelled to tell. 😉
Here’s hoping that’s the case.
I used to kid that 9 months was the length of my job attention span, but when I found law, that changed. I loved it until I reached a point that I wanted to/needed to follow a new passion. That passion remains but I see new avenues within it to explore. Wishing you peace on your mental journey.
Thanks so much, Debra!
Maggie, I’m right there with you. When it feels like more of a “chore” that we keep putting off, maybe it is time to step back. I miss the days when writing was fun.
It is nice to hear I’m not the only one feeling out of sync! There are just so many parts to being a writer that every day is a juggling act, or so it seems. I still love writing a first draft and some days editing is supremely satisfying. But once I get past the creative part to the marketing part, whether to an agent or editor or as an indie, it starts to feel a bit like being on a hamster wheel.
Maggie, when I started writing back in the 80s, I had to dictate everything into DragonDictate because I thought I had carpal tunnel (thankfully, it wasn’t!). Writing became my escape—a cathartic way to manage the stress of work. Fast forward to today, the work stress is long gone, but my love for writing hasn’t faded. The challenge now? Life’s distractions. New interests and unexpected challenges keep pulling me away from the page, making it harder to carve out time to write. I completely get what you’re going through—sometimes life nudges us to pause, reflect, and reevaluate. I hope you find clarity and discover whatever it is you’re searching for! Wishing you the best on this journey.
Thank you, Terry. I have plenty of outside interests already (!) and I’m going to pull back on some of those too. Clarity would be very welcome. As for unexpected challenges, they come when you least expect it, I find, and they require my total focus. Then I find diving back into the every day stuff a challenge. I take it all in stride usually, but here lately my biofeedback hasn’t matched my daily goals. So it is time to practice stillness and figure it out.
I was passionate about a job I had at a plant nursery. I loved it so much, but then I had to move. Bummer. These days I have a lot of things I’m passionate about. Reading, when I’m supposed to be doing other things, like housework…boo! I also love crocheting and cooking/baking. If I need a change, I take a nap!
Kathleen, I love your attitude toward your passions in life. It sounds like you’re in a good headspace with where you are. Reading has always been a passion of mine too.
I’m with you in that I need silence in order to work. And I also feel that I’m getting behind with technology in terms of book promotion. Stepping aside? Not yet. I’m working at my pace for the enjoyment of it because this passion for storytelling and being part of the writing community hasn’t left me yet.
Nancy, you’ve always been such a good role model for any author to emulate. I admire how much you get done and how high quality everything is. I hope the spark and the joy stays with you as long as you want to continue to write and release books.
While I have enjoyed some of my jobs I can’t say any of them were a passion. I hope you find your answers.
Like you, I’ve had several jobs over the course of my life, and while I can’t say they were all passions, I learned something from each position. I always focused on the aspects that I liked in the job and that helped me have a good attitude about the tasks to be done. What’s interesting to me now is that I’ve always been a problem solver, in that I like to sit down and figure out any kind of puzzle. Now I’m the puzzle and it is a bit mystifying that I can’t figure myself out!
I have a passion for baking. I try to keep it fresh and exciting by trying new recipes consistently.
Cherie, My sister also passionate about baking–and cooking. She is usually burbling about a recipe she found and then the next step is to gather all the ingredients. Her latest project was a super moist coconut cake, and everyone says it is delicious. (I don’t like the stringy part of coconut so I pass on it). But I have eaten many of her other creations and they are awesome! I’m sure your family, friends, and neighbors are glad that you enjoy baking!
I had a passion for my job at one point because I had a career goal I wanted to achieve. Once I checked that box I sort of checked out. I took a job with the same title but less of the responsibilities. So now I am looking to writing as a new passion, but it is a scary one. Your Beatles song is great advice; I need to sit down and let the words flow out instead of trying to organize it and make it perfect like my day job requires. Let it go and give in to the process. I would love to experience even half of your success and thank you for sharing your thoughts and the giveaway.
Tracy, one of the hardest things about learning to write is that there is no one set way. There are many ways to do it and achieve personal satisfaction or to go through the rigors of finding the right publisher. Mastering the crafts of dialogue, internal monologue, setting, plotting, point of view, tension, and characterizations are necessary steps as you learn to hone your writing voice. Fortunately the community of writers is one that is strongly focused on helping others along the way. I wish you the best of luck as you start on this journey.