The first snow of this winter is falling outside in big, heavy clumps and my desire to go out for a chilly but beautiful trail run in it is warring with a desire to stay cuddled up next to the fire place… and my need to get all the things done. Writing. Chores. Band practice. Reading. Netflix. Present wrapping. But snow!
It’s amazing how you can acknowledge that something is messy, inconvenient, uncomfortable, possibly dangerous, and still be foolishly enamoured of its beauty. Sounds like a metaphor for love?
I passed the 30K word count bar yesterday. Limping along towards the finish! It’s mostly a matter of discipline, not inspiration, that holds me back. But now that the wedding is out of the way, the pressure (and sick-churning-ick anxiety) to be productive and a meaningful, contributing member of society is rising again.
I predict that it will become much worse after Christmas, and I’m torn between being as unproductive and self-indulgent as possible until the holidays are over, and dealing with the root of the issue, which is being a leech and a slacker… So yeah, I’ll keep pushing on that word count today!
Possibly the last day of work before the holidays wrap anyways, so might as well put in a good effort!
The way I tell this story seems to be shifting as well; it went from 100% planning to 100% stream writing, linear and straight through chapter by chapter (although not, in the case of this story, linear in real time events), and now it’s shifting back again a bit to planning, where I sketch out some events and voices, and then jump between them for a few chapters. Partly that’s probably a side effect of the exponentially increasing degrees of complexity as the story rolls along, and the weight of detail and backstory to balance and integrate.
Pretty unsure about the mystery side of things. I know there are ways to write, well, anything better: mystery, horror, thriller, romance, action, etc. No idea what they are, and I’m entirely to blame for that ignorance, because I’ve made a point of not knowing.
Hopefully that leads to meaningful creativity and not just a boring, unnecessarily complicated mess. Really curious to start getting feedback from others, but, of course, also terrified…
Thursday
Start time: 11:00 am
Location: couch/living room
Drinking: Tulsi tea