A Writer Refreshed

Hello again!

I don't think I've ever NEEDED a vacation as much as I needed this one.

Thing is, I wasn't really aware of the refreshment process as it was going on.  I was actually worried that I wasn't getting refreshed.  Kept checking and re-checking to see if I, yanno, felt like writing.  Because SURELY that's the refreshment litmus test for a writer, right?

No, I didn't feel like writing.  But I did have a sort of beach revelation (the ocean does things like that).  More on that in a bit.

 

This vacation, like all vacations, was peppered with Extra Happy Moments.  And the first of these was meeting up with
Jodi Meadows.

Yes, this is Jodi with Holly the Yorkie on her head.  (What?  You don't know about Holly?  Ask Holly Bodger, who is immeasurably thankful to have a stuffed dog as her namesake.)

So Jodi and I had pizza and lots of chat, and then she came back with us to Mr. A's relatives' home, where we had Even More chat (but not more pizza, since the take-home box was in Jodi's car).  And I was reminded all over again of the magic of the Internet in bringing kindred spirits together.

It's both ironic and fitting that Jodi and I met on Twitter.  My first words to her were something like, "Hey, you rejected me twice!" Her response?  "This is a tough crowd!"  The rest is quintessential history.

One of these fine days, I will be able to post a REAL picture of the two of us.  But for now, we've got a Jodi-hugging-a-ghost picture.  (Cool superpower, that.  Can you morph yourself into a non-corporeal blob?)

As for the beach revelation?  In part, it's thanks to you.  Remember a few weeks ago when I asked you whether you wrote for your heart or for the market?  The overwhelming response was HEART.  So I was all, "Hmm!" and didn't, perhaps, mull it over the way I should have.

Then, with the ocean in my ears and lungs and soul, it struck me.  I'd set aside a project about which I was passionate.  My reason?  The market!  In thinking ahead and always trying to plan for what's next, I'd convinced myself that the story I was revising needed to be retired.

My goal, of course, was to come up with something sparkly and new.  And...marketable.  Yeah, that's the way the creative brain works, right?  Force it to spit out something within certain parameters--and within a certain time frame.  (That's what I was doing.  Seriously.)

The truth swelled with the surf, and I realized that I need to return to the story and finish the revisions.  Then, I think, my spirit will be satisfied and I can move on to the next thing.  (Which will probably bubble to the surface on its own, right in the middle of the revisions.)  Of course, my immediate response was to attempt to begin immediately.  So I curled up with Beatrice in a wee sandwich shop and opened Scrivener.

And remembered that I'd left all my revision notes at home.  Because, um, I was supposed to be on vacation.

It was fine.  Because I really didn't feel like writing, anyway.  I shut my laptop and went merrily along my way, trusting that I'd be ready to dig in when I got home.

I was right!  I'm ready.  And I'm starting today.  So THANK YOU for your collective wisdom (and honesty).  And thank you for being here upon my return.  It's like coming home to a huge, extended family.  Without the dysfunctional part. *grin*

And, yes.  I want to live here.  The ocean is the one thing that's missing from my life, and I'm not sure why we don't live near it.  I'm at my best when there's sand between my toes.

So...how are you?  Give me all your good news and happy thoughts and met goals!  I've already gotten wind of some good stuff that happened while I was away.  Bring it on!