discombobulation

a few days ago i decided i needed to shift my priorities and realign my energy. the sudden shifts in pressure and temperature, the burgeoning signs of spring, my own internal restlessness, all seem to signal that something needs to change. the season is changing, and so, it seems should i. and as off-balance and as out of kilter as this makes me feel, i remind myself that the earth itself has to split for the new growth to come through.

to that end, i've decided to shift my Writing Time from later in the morning to first thing. i've reached a point in my novel where i have to Pay Attention, where the turn of a phrase equates to a flick of a paint brush. in order to add the depth and the layers, i have to be force myself to go slowly, to really See. it requires a plunge into the deeper layers of the characters, a deliberate differentiation between the characters and me.

i've done 14 pages so far and i realize that doesn't sound like much. but so far i'm pleased. if i go any faster, i miss the places to apply the shadows and the shadings, the twinging and the tweaking. it's the sort of work i can only do when i am at my absolute freshest.

and so i've changed my routine. i'm not blogging first thing, or answering my email or commenting or responding. i said i'd play in the march madness and sits is having a spring fling and i've hardly even visited the blogs i ususally keep up with. i've been a Very Bad Blogger. but i know i've been doing some really good writing.

you see, my Muse is a jealous mistress and once She gets Her hooks deep into me, She's hard to shake off. indulge my absence, my silence, gentle readers, i know i'll regain an equilibrium in another week or two...

and furthermore, the war will end. blessed be.