Separation

Today was one of those wacky weather days in Ohio.  This afternoon I had my little one at the playground with friends, and the car thermometer read 72 degrees and balmy, and this evening, after a violent thunderstorm, we are awaiting some snow to fall before morning.  Geesh.  March in Ohio...

Back to writing, Heidi.  Always back to writing.  Know what I mean?  Sticky soul, jealous lover beckoning.  We always have to go back.  Back to something we've written ages ago or back to something we have been working on steadily.  But, there is also the separation.  Just like with the people I love the most, my spouse, my kid, my friends, there somehow needs to be a bit of distance created between me (the creator) and my work (the creation) in order to keep things going smoothly.  I think we can become stifled with our own work at times, no matter how much we adore it.   You can drown if you don't come up for air now and again.  

I cannot seem to do more than about a thousand words of anything in one day.  And that's o.k.  You should write every day, but you should also leave things to settle, for lack of a better word.  When I first write something (anything), every part of it seems raw.  It's not just that it's a "first draft", it's also that its concrete form is new to me, too, full of its initial passion and urgency, but also strewn with ideas and details that need to cure a bit in my own mind before I can truly get them straight.  I find that if I give a new scribbling a good 24 hours, it gels for me much better and gives me a better platform for further writing and editing.  

I tend to bounce between about ten to twenty different projects, which is not the way every writer likes to do things, but I find that working on various pieces keeps me from having much writer's block at all.  Even if I stick to one thing all week, I force myself away from it after a certain amount of time and allow that daily separation to recharge me.  Just like when the hubby comes home from work and the kids get home from school and you can't wait to see them.  Absence makes the heart grow fonder, I suppose. 

Ciao for now!                         Heidi