A Working Weekend
Some days are better writing days than others. And even though I had big plans to write all weekend, I hardly touched my book other than to jot down some brainstorming notes and a few transition paragraphs. Considering weekends are my primetime writing time, I recognize I may have set myself behind schedule. And that makes me worry.
And yet, I also recognize that you can only force creativity so far. Yes, writing a book is work and sometimes you just have to sit down and do the work even if you don’t feel like it. But sometimes it’s better to step away and let the story rest for a moment (or even a weekend) because when you come back, both you and the story can have a fresh perspective.
That’s what happened to me this weekend. I feel like I’ve poked and prodded at the beginning of Forgotten Locket so much that it was starting to poke back. I knew if I forced myself to fight with the story, we’d both end up getting hurt and I’d just have to redo a bunch of work later. So instead, Tracy and I saw Inception; we celebrated my Dad’s birthday; we played some games. We slept in on Saturday. And Sunday afternoon, I saw my story with new eyes and figured out some important relationships and storylines. I feel like I’m back on track—and a better track than before.
So was it a wasted weekend? Not at all.
(And for the record, Inception is AMAZING! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a movie that smart, challenging, and breathtaking—well, probably since the last Christopher Nolan movie. J)