Friday, March 7, 2008

Smooth sailing


I’m feeling happy this week.

I’m always happy when the writing is going well. Some people say, when bad things happen in life, “At least you have your health.”

I say, “At least the writing is going well.”

Except when it isn’t. Then I become a crabby, not-so-safe person to have around.

I recently emerged from one of those fogs. When I’m lost in the mist, I am prone to random outbursts and existential lamentations. Mid-mist, I become convinced that some essential brain oil has changed levels—that my creative juices have ebbed so low that they can no longer be measured by any dipstick of prose. I worry that I will never again achieve the engine horsepower that pulled me through the last book.

And then, somehow, I find the rhythm of the words again. I keep chugging, and the wind picks up. And then I’m moving along.

So for now, it's smooth sailing on Book 3. Hooray!
Breaking News!!
I'll be a guest at The Writer's Chatroom on Sunday, March 9th:
Join us at 7 p.m. Eastern Time, 4 p.m. Pacific for a fun conversation!

3 comments:

Joe Moore said...

Kathryn, isn’t it a shame that writing can’t be more like so many other occupations where we just flip a switch and turn it on? Don’t feel alone. Getting lost in that fog happens to me way too often. Fortunately, the subconscious mind is always working and hopefully will step forward and reveal the missing information to get my writing back on track. Good luck with book 3, and good luck in the Writer’s Chatroom on Sunday.

Kathryn Lilley said...

Hi Joe! Yes, it does work that way! Even during the three weeks when I barely wrote a comprehensible line, I could feel my brain "back processing". Like a slow computer that finally "catches up"!

Linda O. Johnston said...

Kathryn--I, too, agree with Joe, and empathize with you. So many things in our lives can interfere with our subconscious minds, and that can affect our ability to write fast and smoothly. But isn't it great when we finally can put that all behind us and sail forward? And there's always editing to fix the rough spots!
--Linda