On Friday afternoon my wife served me with divorce papers. I am crushed beyond words. This will literally upend my entire life, and none of it for the better. Obviously, there is no way I can work on my creative endeavors for the time being, but right now I am scared that I may never be able to get back to any of it (or have the will to plod on). Any advice for those who have faced similar situations? (as a side note, I had been working on a comedy/drama series based on all of my horrible dating experiences prior to meeting my wife, with our meeting 6 years ago being the happy ending).
Anything Goes : Dealing with Major Life Change in your creative life by Don Dobrez Jr
Dealing with Major Life Change in your creative life
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Paul Schrader often talks about the traumatic time in his life when he wrote Taxi Driver. The loneliness he felt at the time was the entry point for him in the story. “I had broken with Pauline [Kael], I had broken with my wife, I had broken with the woman I left my wife for, I had broken with the American Film Institute and I was in debt,” We can draw upon our experiences, or we wait to clear the head first before getting back into to things. But we must move on at some point.
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@Don You say you cannot work on your creative endeavours because of how you feel but “create” anyway albeit it takes your writing off on another “tangent”. Do not dwell or let it matter , go with whatever the flow. Some artists have written masterpieces whilst even in a dark place, themselves, in their own world. Some of the Bronte family wrote specifically when they were low “Doleful imagery deepened the gloom”. Bad news is another aspect of life so make some move to get this out of your system via writing it down. I felt terrible a few years back after a home invasion and my hands shook for a while (more from disgust/anger than fear) and felt I would have to abandon my art. However instead I took the approach, carry on, even though my fingers shook whilst managing a film set. You WILL get over this initial phase of feeling the hurt at a visceral level and it will get less and less every day. I am sorry for the raw pain you feel right now and my advice is get back into your script. Its been six years in the running, now is the right time for final draft, along with new twists ending. Quote Oscar Wilde “Through art and art alone can we shield ourselves, from the sordid hurt of actuality.”