Friday, December 6, 2013

Asterisk

Photo by Steve Snodgrass .  licensed under
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
What is the origin of the creeping malaise that continually conspires to prevent me from making blog updates?  I guess you'd have to call it sloth.  I've been waiting to be inspired, but at some point it becomes obvious that one simply has to write something or a blog ceases to be a blog and becomes something more like a requiem.

Ah, here's a thought.  OK, wait.  First off, rest assured that my work on Hemlock IV is significantly more inspired than this blog post appears to be.  That's the good news.  OK, back to this thought I just had.  Wait...  Can you believe it?  It's gone already.  That's crazy.  At some point a project ceases to be revelatory and descends into drudgery.  But there's no shame in that.  Every worthwhile thing I've accomplished in my life has needed some in-glamorous elbow grease to get it over the finish line.  So why should this blog post be any different?  Oh, right.  I was going to tell you about my writing process.

My writing process is to take my laptop and go to a local fast food place.  It's one of the supposedly healthy fast food places.  Somehow I doubt it is really healthy, but it does feel lighter and less toxic than the burger places.  And I've hit a groove at this place.  I write every other day.  I don't write for very long because I don't have time to.  But it's a nice little block of time where I write and re-read what I wrote the previous session.  I make light edits and then forge ahead.  I always thought writing a novel would be difficult, but it's really not if you approach it this way.  Just establish a writing routine and you will finish a novel.  But I shouldn't leave out a caveat...a veritable asterisk that should be slammed down over this blog post by a big white Roger Rabbit cartoon hand.

These writing sessions are totally reliant on a story outline I've prepared.  I've got the first seven or eight chapters of the new novel outlined because I simply can't keep all of the plot details straight without it.  My memory certainly isn't my strong suit.  It's not like the prose is incredibly intricate when you read it, but writing a climax to a series does require a lot of plot juggling.  It should fall together naturally for the reader, but that artificial harmony is the product of a lot of mental simulation, note taking and sessions of imagining.  I get a lot of ideas in the shower.  I used to get a lot on the lawn mower, but now that season has passed.

This may be the worst blog post I've written so far.  I apologize for that.  Maybe I need to blog during breakfast...incorporate it into my routine.  I suppose I should take my own advice.  But I'd be groggy...  I'd probably write about sugary kid's cereals and clumsy yoga.  Writing at lunch does provide the theoretical advantage of being at peak wakefulness.  Unlike this post which is probably incoherent because I'm so tired.  Time to fall asleep at the keyboard**************