A Writer’s Life, Again

Amazing how much difference a couple days can make.

On Monday, I wrote at some length about the distractions that were preventing me from properly thinking about my work, let alone getting much of it done.

Most of Tuesday I was a total wreck. I blame the fact that we were socked in by rainclouds. I’m a solar activated person, one reason I live in an area that’s sunny 360 days per year. Clouds and gloom weigh on me like, well, clouds and gloom.

Tuesday I could barely drag myself out of bed. I was so down that I couldn’t even summon up the energy to play computer games. The best that could be said for me was that I got some reading done.

And then, late in the afternoon, the mood shifted. (Not coincidentally, the clouds were dissipating.) I did my workout on the Total Gym, soaked my sore muscles in the hot tub while watching a lovely sunset, then cooked a healthy dinner of tuna steak with mushrooms, asparagus, and a salad.

Then I went to the laptop and wrote like a demon for several hours. Wrote well, finishing more words on the one night than I’d managed for a week or more.

I completed a chapter. It helped in building momentum that the end of the chapter was in sight, because this chapter was one of those accompanied by a lot of second-guessing on my part. The chapter was almost all exposition, and as I worked I kept thinking, “Maybe I should deal with this piece of information later. Or earlier. Or maybe I should just cut it.”

It’s impossible at this early stage to know whether I made any of the right decisions. But at least the chapter is done, and I can deal with all those issues later.

When I finished in the early hours of the morning, I felt very pleased with myself.

This morning was sunny, and so was I. I bounded out of bed full of energy. I started the day with martial arts, ate a modest and healthy lunch, spent the afternoon dealing with the sort of trivial annoyances that had so vexed me on Monday. I ran for an hour on the elliptical machine, did my stretches, watched sunset from the hot tub, cooked myself another tuna steak. Then I listened to the presidential debate while playing Rome. (The score: Obama 3 for 3, more because his opponent kept shooting himself in the neck than because Obama was so brilliant. And also I am kicking Rome’s butt. A good day for sports.)

So now I’ve got the laptop fired up and will be launching more genius into the fictionsphere. Excelsior!

Forecast for tomorrow: Sunny. Warmer. Wordier.