by Janis Patterson
All the successful ‘make a million’ and 'you too can write a bestseller' gurus stress the
importance of structure… how dependable it is. How good it is. How having
specific times and goals for specific projects increases your creativity. How
freeing a firm schedule is. One even said ‘discipline is freedom’… Sounds like
something out of a totalitarian work camp doesn’t it?
Heaven knows I’ve tried. I’ve set word goals and deadlines
and definite working hours. I’ve made charts and visual reminders and promised
myself chocolate if I fulfill all these targets. I just can’t understand how I
can concentrate on goals and targets if I’m thinking about the chocolate that I
supposedly can’t have until it’s all over? That’s a real killer – and not the
good kind like I put in my mysteries. Then there’s life itself… the laundry
must be done, or perhaps the washer maniacally crashes just as The Husband runs
out of his favorite shirts. Aunt Edna comes into town for the first time in years
and must be looked after. Accidents, problems, family… the world is full of
interruptions just waiting to happen.
Unfortunately, my Muse is not well trained. Pretty much
untrainable, if you ask me. She comes when she wants to but not when she is
ordered. She sulks when something takes precedence over her when she is ready
to pour forth deathless prose. Sometimes when she doesn’t want to work I can
jumpstart her by forging through by typing a bit of rubbish that she rushes in
to improve, but she has never responded well to regimentation. I can work
without her, of course, which usually sends her into a sulk and my writing into
the pits, but at least that way I have something down that might lead to
something worth keeping when she is ready to forgive me. All in all she’s a
pretty good Muse and I guess she should be allowed some leeway.
My real drawback is me – and the worst problem is
Procrastination.
No, not writers’ block. To me that means you can't work or create at all. With Procrastination the mind keeps running at full tilt,
adjusting scenes, coming up with dialogue (with me saying all parts, of
course), hatching beautiful metaphors and descriptions… I just don’t want to
write it down right now, even as I know full well that once I am ready to get
back into writing mode all those beautiful words will have irretrievably dissolved into
vapor. I just don’t want to do it now. I want to straighten my handkerchief
drawer, or do just one more jigsaw on that lovely new site, or just sit in
front of the TV and pretend to be a vegetable.
Not productive, but I firmly believe necessary to the soul.
And I will write a piece expounding on that theory, too. When I get around to
it. Eventually.
ps - in case you haven't seen it, my new Flora Melkiot mystery is out -
ps - in case you haven't seen it, my new Flora Melkiot mystery is out -
