It’s Not Writers Block
I’m settling back into a regular writing routine, still working on those last three chapters. They’re going to be the longest-to-write chapters I’ve ever written. Or not written. It’s not that they’re that difficult, or that I don’t know what I want. It’s more about needing to pull in all the elements of the story, and not having the brain to hold them all together at the same time.
Sometimes writing goes beautifully for me, fast and easy, and sometimes it’s as painful as pulling teeth. It isn’t writer’s block; it’s brain block, from allergies and asthma and colds. Christmas is always a little difficult, as I eat things I shouldn’t be eating and enjoy a live tree I’m probably allergic to. Add to this the interruptions of the season and the inevitable colds of winter, and I have spells of brain-deadness that are immensely irritating.
I’ve learned to persist, to work every day anyway (unless it’s a totally hopeless day – I just let those go). I pick away, in hopes that eventually that sparkle-in-the-brain will return and I’ll be able to fly through everything I’ve prepared in painful bits.
In the meantime, I have to believe they will return, those magical days when the words just flow.
Maureen
Snow In The Rockies
We drove to Banff to hike and have lunch out (at Coyotes, our favorite). The mountains were stunning, deep in white with every angle emphasized by snow. We watched light play across the mountains, as clouds and mist settled low and then cleared. The snow vanished as we drove home in what seemed more like a September scene, the foothills golden and the clear blue sky huge above us.
Maureen
New Years Resolutions
New Years Resolutions always seem to be about doing more, going faster, being better.
I think for me they need to be about going slower and deeper – to settle more deeply into myself, and into my stories. There’s something that happens there… and I want to know more about it.
I think that means more meditating and walking and yoga, reading the books that pull me deep, and listening to the right music. But none of these belong on my resolution list, because then it’s suddenly about doing more again. I need to let it be about going deeper, and simply remember that these things help me get there.
Maureen
The Last Three Chapters
I had hoped to finish the first draft of my current story by Christmas. I’m within spitting distance – three chapters to go – but I’m not going to make it. I’d intended to finish the draft, and then dig into a second round of deepening and pulling threads through the story (the emotional layer, themes). But I got hung up on needing to bring all those elements together in the final chapters, and so couldn’t write the chapters until I figure out all the threads. I’m getting there – at least, almost enough to write the last three chapters – but it’s not going to happen before Christmas. This week has been in interrupt mode, with final exams, flights, baking, wrapping and shipping, with writing tucked in whenever I can, in between everything else.
When writing becomes the ‘tucked in-between’ activity, it’s time to let go of the big goals. But I will sneak off periodically, just to get a regular dose.
Maureen
Christmas in the Garden
The new bird feeder is attracting all kinds of attention. The small birds have figured out how to eat from the feeder – the others hover, hoping for scraps. Then the squirrels got their revenge, breaking into the suet basket and stealing the entire block of peanut butter and suet.
We’re started on a new song:
Six sparrows flying
Five magpies squawking
Four squirrels stealing
Three pigeons cooing
Two redpolls feeding
and a hare hopping through the snow.
Maureen
