What to do when you can't do what you love

Have you ever wondered what you would do if you couldn’t write?

Well, I have. I had to stop writing for almost a month because I had surgery on my hand and couldn’t use it.

That was the hardest month I ever had in my life. It was as if my entire life came to a screeching halt and I had no clue what I should do.

I used that time to cry, scream and whine to my doctor about how unfair this was because he ‘knew I used my hand to type and yet he still did the surgery’. OK, I did sign off on the surgery but didn’t know that I wouldn’t be able to use my hand for over a month!

I tried everything in my power to use my hand and it just made me miserable. I tried the chicken pecking method. I tried the talk to text method and I also tried paying someone to type for me.

But nothing worked. I found that if it weren't ME typing, than the thoughts were confused and without reason. I then realized that if I couldn’t write, I couldn’t be who I am. That is the first time I went to a conference and learned all there is about being an author and found that there is much more to being an author than just writing.

It involves marketing and promotion and networking and lastly, being in front of people. Until I couldn’t use my hands to write, I didn’t know what else I could or should be doing. That month is when I attended my first conference, Bay To Ocean on the Eastern Shore in Maryland and since then I am continuously going to conferences and making myself a better author by doing more than just writing. I learned that if I couldn’t write, there was so much more that I could be doing.

I can promote myself, I can network and I can attend classes to make me a better writer.

What if you couldn’t write for a month, what would you do?