Well, I guess I’m starting my next book on Tuesday. After a long weekend filled with friends and family and maybe one more beach trip. It’s Thursday already, so it’s not going to happen now. I can’t say this week has been a waste. The weather has been gorgeous, just a hint of fall in the air. And I’ve caught up on some outstanding freelance work – and on some old friends.
But one of those friends is a working artist, a musician and a painter. And when I told her about my dilemma – not sure which project to start on, not sure if I should apply myself or wait for inspiration – she put it quite succinctly. “When I make myself paint, something happens. It may be good, it may very well be bad. But something happens. When I don’t make myself paint…”
Point taken. On Tuesday, I’m going to start my real writing again (the freelance is work-for-hire, so that doesn’t count). I may have to flush the rust out of the pipes, but at least I’ll make something happen.
Do you have any resolutions for the new season?
This is so true–it’s so easy to avoid writing, to alphabetize books, to go get a cupcake, to do freelance stuff that has piled up, because the real writing work is so hard. But even if you just make yourself write for an hour, things do happen, the subconcious percolates.
I hope you’re right, Caroline!
My goal is to write a measly 15 pages a week in order to finish my stand alone before the new year. This, of course, conflicts with other goals, such as sell all the weird “stuff” in boxes on EBAY, enter the humorous speech contest at my toastmasters club, and on and on. Fall gardening chores, query more agents, yada yada.
Watching the Olympics, the Democratic convention and especially the Red Sox has sucked time into the black hole of TV.
How about we all organize our recipes? Now that could easily take a week or two.
Sigh. So onward and good luck with your new book. I had two projects laid out and couldn’t decide which one to begin and then a third jumped in and started talking to me, which is the one I went with.
Go figure.
Thanks, Odette. I’m wondering if a third will jump up and grab me. Until then, I’m doing multiple loads of laundry and looking up recipes on Epicurious (because I’m still at my computer, it feels like I’m working if I squint a little.)