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