Ebb and Flow

It's funny how things need to be aligned for the writing to flow. I am a person who doesn't actually believe in writer's block, but I DO believe a story can get stopped up... that sometimes you have to write something ELSE for a little while before you can get back to progress on that WiP.







One side of the mountain blew totally off

So IMAGES today are from Mt. St. Helen's... it blew 34 years ago yesterday, covering the little town I lived in (Moscow, Idaho) in ¾ inch of ash... school was canceled for the year... one of those once in a lifetime experiences... (which is probably good)





You know what helps the writing flo?



DAYS OFF!



I am SO IMPORTANT at my job that I can never take time off... erm... or rather, we are in our first real year as an office and I'm the only veteran besides my boss... it is possibly my own exaggerated sense of self importance, but it has just seemed for too long like I couldn't actually be GONE...



We had a bunch of hiring to do, then we had a grant, then I had a national meeting, and I had students with projects... (like I really COULDN'T be GONE)--but I also noticed I was losing vacation days... you can only accumulate so many, so this summer, as much as possible, I am taking three days weekends... now into the foreseeable future. And Friday was my first one.



Hubby worked part of it. Me home alone... and it was a GREAT writing day.







It left the forest below looking like this--those are TREES (not grass)

Know what DOESN'T help the writing?



A hangover.



I really am too old to be so stupid, but I got to drinking wine with my neighbor Friday night and Saturday I was really mostly worthless writing-wise. I got some other stuff done. Some shopping, some chores. But each time I'd think, “I should write” I would sit down and think... no, what I really want is to watch a episode of Deadwood... So don't do that.





Know what HELPS?



A good night SLEEP!



I do really good writing when I get up feeling refreshed. When I still feel tired, not so much.







Here it is 30 years later, recovering slowly

Know what DOESN'T HELP?



Needy people. Doesn't matter who they are, but mostly childings... childings who need rides. Childings who need jobs. Childings who need clean clothes. Childings who you are married to who are just generally needy. Childings with fur who need their dogfood made... Other childings with fur who need their litter boxes changed... But I love them, so I suppose that is just part of the deal.



I suppose if it flowed too fast, it would just bowl over everything in its wake.





Whatever the challenges, I managed to write almost 8000 words in my three days off and have reached the halfway point, if this book doesn't end up a bunch longer than the rest. The biggest deal is I really wound up about the first five chapters, all of which I'd started, but had [needs a scene that does this] at the end of all of them. I finally feel like I really AM half way, rather than having a whole bunch of started chapters, none of which had reached satisfactory conclusions. Hopefully a week from now I will be able to tell you the first draft is DONE.



So there. What helps and hurts your writing?