I recently set more steady and ambitious writing goals for myself, with a nifty checklist on posterboard with tickyboxes and gold stars for me to award myself if I exceed my goals. Realistically I know that as I am just phasing into this new method of motivating it will take me time to get up to speed. I’ve been ramping up well, meeting my goals most nights and working on the novel some every day. Reality doesn’t always stop me from angsting, which is just what I was doing last night as I sat with Reesa at Denny’s (official late-night cat-waxers’ food headquarters).
I got some good reminders to trust my process, that I need to relax and let my writing output grow naturally. A little later, when I got home, I made the decision I wrote about here. As soon as I did the inspiration hit and I wrote 3 pages of “Encounter at Hedonia.” Caspar isn’t even in this story, but it felt like renewing my trust in the process combined with a willingness to let my characters take up more psychic space helped open things up inside my head.
In the hopes this trend will continue, I’m letting it be known that my characters can take up as much brainpower as they like. If they were closed before, I’m throwing the doors to my brain wide open — come on in, guys, girls, and creatures in between. Do whatever you like — dig through the medicine cabinet, babble incessently in my ears, leave your dirty laundry lying around and empty milk cartons in my fridge.
Come into my brain and inspire me.
