Still Plugging Away

[teddy_radiator]

I really don't have any reason to feel this out of sorts. I'm not in any physical distress, we've got a smidgeon of money in the bank, I'm not having any personal conflicts with anyone, and I've just watched a morning of Morcambe and Wise, which should be enough to jolly anyone out of their doldrums. I can only surmise that it's hormonal, and I'll just have to deal with it.

I'm also frustrated with myself in that I've not written anything of note in over a month. Ever since I started sending out query letters and receiving rejection letters I've had no real desire to write. This causes a strange niggling in my frontal lobe which is part frustration, part mental constipation and part guilt. I feel like I should be polishing up Book Two, but I'm fighting the Why Bother fairy.

Don't get me wrong - I haven't given up or thrown in the towel. Far from it. I'm far from that. I'm just suffering from this strange malaise that I can't quite put words into.

All this reminded me of a comic strip in the 80's called Pluggers. Jeff MacNelly, the artist who created the comic, said that "Pluggers are the eighty percent of humanity who do one hundred percent of the work. They lack pretensions and appreciate the small things. The honour at least some traditions, but they are equally adept at changing channels, changing careers and changing diapers. They've met deadlines, tasted failure, tested the speed limit and probably have a good supply of duct tape. They are, in other words, us...or at least the great majority of us who care about getting the job done and keeping home and hearth together. And who generally succeed - somehow. By wit and by grit. Somehow we hang on and hang in there, never losing heart - even if it's been triple-bypassed."

The comic was so popular that people started sending the artist their definition of a Plugger, which he promptly would draw up for his daily comic. My dad loved the comic so much that he nicknamed his best friend Carl Vermillion Plugger - and it so stuck that it's what many of his friends still call him today. MacNelly actually compiled most of his one-panel comics into a really nice little book called Calm In The Face of Disaster, which I gave to Dad on his last Christmas. Mom kindly gave it back to me, and I have kept it ever since. I find it both funny and encouraging. It really does give you the impetus to just keep plugging away, because so many of his Plugger characters are so like me and the people I know and love.

While I was looking through it, I came across not one but two that referenced writers, and thought I'd share them with you. They certainly made me smile about something I haven't really smiled about since I started sending out query letters.

Comments

[akatnamedeaster.livejournal.com]

*snugs you* I'm sorry you're having a bad day, love. You're always there for me with a good word and a shoulder and I'm there for you if you want to talk. Those cartoons show a lot of wisdom and it's the path even the most successful writer/artist has had to shuffle through before someone was able to understand what they're trying to do and give them that well-earned break.

Love you and hope tomorrow is a better day.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Aw, sweetie, you are so awesome. I know you've had an unbearable week, and to take a few minutes to encourage me - well, that means the world. I love you to bits, and I truly hope that this week is a 1000%+ better than the last. You deserve a wonderful next few days, and I'm sending up all sorts of positive hopeful thoughts that you get them.

[nocturnus33]

*Hugs and chocolates*

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Thank you! ♥

[mimimanderly.livejournal.com]

If there is no concrete reason for your despondency, then, yes, it probably is hormonal. When I was peri-menopausal, my emotions would sometimes be in a black pit of despair for no reason at all -- and I had a devil of a time getting out again. However. Since I have emerged on the other side of menopause, I don't seem to get depressed anymore. The thought that would help me immensely when I was in that pit, though, was the realization that everything is a cycle. I had been in that pit before, and eventually I reached the bottom and began my ascent to higher, happier realms. It would almost certainly happen that way again, ad infinitum. Reaching the bottom would actually make me feel incrementally happier because I knew that it meant that my mood would be lightening from that point on.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

I am looking at it this way. I know that I'm a little sad because our friends B & K are going to be moving far away from us in a couple of weeks, and they are my only real face-to-face friends, but tempering my sadness is knowing they are going to be taking advantage of a great opportunity and this move is a really great thing for them all the way around, so while I'm going to miss them, I am truly thrilled for them to have this opportunity. Other than that, it just feels like the old hormonal blues. It is a dark pit indeed, but I know it's not my permanent home.

[melodyssister]

* Hugs * Hang in there! This too shall pass... and sundry other platitudes.

Those cartoons were great! If you have the book now, why not go through it and see which ones describe you? I find that kind of exercise very cheering. Alternatively, of course a dose of SSHG might help.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I love looking through this little book. Not only does it make me smile, but it reminds me of my dad, who loved Pluggers. He's the one that turned me on to the comic in the first place. Here's one I actually cut out of the newspaper and stapled into the book because it made me laugh:

[bonsaibetz.livejournal.com]

Yep, and if you keep plugging away, you just might wind up with a poster in your SteamLib that says "Another Blockbuster By Teddy!" As Dory from Finding Nemo says, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming."

[hbart.livejournal.com]

I'd send some sunshine your way, but with all this rain, we don't have much to spare. Hang in there. It always gets better. Or something worse comes along and makes it not seem so bad. Shit, this was supposed to be uplifting, lol. At any rate, I liked the comics you shared. Sometimes when the daily grind gets to be too much, it's nice to know you aren't alone.

[stgulik.livejournal.com]

I think you're onto the sources of your malaise: you're experiencing those joyful hormones that make menopause so special, and you're focusing hard on finding a literary agent.

These will pass, and very soon you will joyfully get back into writing!

I love these comics! I need to swipe them and put them up at work to remind myself to be a plugger. Thanks for sharing.

[smallbrownfrog.livejournal.com]

Ahhh, yes, I remember those comics. Thanks for reminding me of them. Don't discount the little not so little things that might be affecting your mood. Rejection letters can be hard to take in stride. You've said work has some sort of evil new system. Two good friends are moving away. Any one of those would be enough reason to be blue.

Something for you. :-)

[shadowycat.livejournal.com]

It's hard to keep your enthusiasm up when you're getting rejection after rejection. That malaise will vanish quickly once you get your first acceptance letter, though, and I'm sure it'll happen. Every new day holds infinite possibilities! ~Hugs and warm wishes!~

I love the cartoons! There's a lot of truth in them. Thanks for sharing them with us. :D