Lost Patterns. I never returned to my pre-Covid early morning walks to a coffee shop, that contemplative time for examining the writing day’s direction.
Nowadays, there’s a dog to feed. Other routines have erased thoughts of getting out on those predawn streets, like: eat breakfast now; page through the newspaper and do the NYT crossword, sudoku, Cryptoquip and Jumble puzzles; take the dog for a walk; and morning stuff, before I ever get to my desk.
Replacing Patterns. Meanwhile, I’m looking to create new routines. For instance, a way to overcome my laziness on Sundays is to wheel Sophie along on my walk. It offers a different slant to the same old routine, and hopefully Sophie enjoys it well enough—though she still walks the other direction when her carrier rolls out of the garage.
And this past Sunday I also hied me to the gym to ride the bike. That effort improved my attitude about coming home to do my PT—after a soft cone at Dairy Queen. Some rewards are necessary! While consuming ice cream, I jotted some notes, so it was time well spent.
Ongoing losses. I do try to remain hopeful for the future of our country—but a resolution will come with a great, and probably lengthy, struggle.
Meanwhile, on the home front, I’m looking at the little losses, minor though they seem in comparison. With the one year anniversary of losing Wayne, I allowed myself to not do anything for a week. But that week grew longer, followed by a loss of writing momentum. Time to return to revisions.
I had reconciled myself to being a year behind on finishing up the Pawn Quest trilogy, but yesterday’s critique session left me with a realization of just how much more revision remains to be done.
Normally I love to revise, but when it comes to shaking up whole chapters, I’m going to need a clear focus and a great deal more imagination. Do I have it in me? I’ll let you know.
(Next week’s post—a discovery I made about Pantsers vs. Outliners.)
Kate Harrington 