Wednesday, September 18th, 2013 The Reboot

I don't know what it is about the first cool day of autumn, but I feel like a dam has just broken inside me. Or maybe I was the damn dam. Who knows. But the point is, I'm ready for change. I'm ready for action. I'm ready to get off my butt and...get back in the chair. I'm ready to make things happen instead of just thinking about them and planning them.

But I'll get back to that.

I should first address my absence.

I took the weekend off for a family reunion. We had a great time that ended with some serious car trouble on the other side of the mountain. Then I spent the first of the week trying to get the vehicle situation resolved. It's a bowl of spaghetti I won't  share with you here. My husband should have his truck back by Friday, so everything will work out in the end. Blah, blah, blah.

Besides all that, I made a grave mistake.

I allowed myself to take a break from this blog. There was no need, since we did have wi-fi at the cabin and I could have posted. But since I also need to earn the right to post here, I should have set aside a half hour SOMEWHERE and got some work done so that I COULD blog about it.

But no. I took time off. 

Here's a little insight into me. I'm an all or nothing kind of gal. I always was. And that alone is what causes my husband stress from time to time, though he rarely complains.

Knowing this, the last thing I should ever do is take time off. Of course I piddle around like everyone else does on the internet. I get distracted by movies and family, and family who want to watch movies together. I'm normal. But if I get off the wagon, I wander off. I forget the wagon, the road, and the friends who are on the wagon waiting for me to catch back up. 

But I'm back now. And I hope you'll forgive me for flaking on you.

What I have found interesting, when chatting with a few other writers, is that they've been having a similar problem. Getting their butts back in their chairs has been nearly impossible for writers who are usually the most disciplined among us. I'm wondering if it is, in fact, the season change coming upon us instead of, say, the phases of the moon.

I've watched the moon phases for the past 2-3 months now and tracked my production and focus and believed there was a distinct pattern. I was counting on the moon telling me when I was going to be at my best. But this past week or so has shot that all to Hades. I'll keep watching, of course, to see if that pattern returns, but for now, all bets are off. Hopefully it's just the seasonal shake up. 

But whatever it is, I think we're in for some amazing productivity, and a spurt of creativity that I hope will last a while. I feel like the very ground is rumbling beneath my feet, and what breaks out of that ground might just be a Godzilla version of me. 

(I have no evidence that I am manic depressive, but if I am, get ready for a helluva manic stretch. And you're going to need one massive net when I start to fall.) 

In any case, the writing is back on. The goals remain the same. A few days behind. Since it doesn't involve actual physical running, I expect to catch up without too much trouble. I'll post in the early am and let you know what I get done tonight. I'm focused on getting one project edited, so no new words are in the plan for tonight.

Also, I'm headed to a writers retreat up in Brighton this weekend. We all plan to get grundles of work done before we come back down the mountain on Monday afternoon. Minds can be blown in three days, you know.

What I would really like to know is how the rest of you have been dealing with this disturbance in the force. Have any of you cranked out some awesome word counts lately? And what has your last week been like? Have you been waiting for the ground to rumble? Waiting for a Get Out of Jail Free card? And do you feel like you're done waiting?

Tell me.