Progress on Chapter 38

     I have done a fair amount of writing the past couple of  day after not writing on my novel for about a week. This seems to be a good lead in to discuss both my procrastination and my current living arrangements.  Both have an impact on my writing.

     Procrastination has been my constant companion as well as my life long nemesis.  I am sure that this surprises absolutely no one who is reading a blog about a novel I have been writing for over a decade.  Once I begin to write, I usually enjoy it intensely, often on a truly spiritual level.  Getting started is always the hard part.  Even in the midst of a particularly euphoric stretch of writing, I hesitate to get back to the keyboard lest I find that the magic has disappeared.  Sometimes the writing is pure work, although it never sinks to the level of drudgery.  At those time, I require even more effort to get back to work.  Somehow I cling to the fear in spite of the fact that the magic always shows up pretty quickly once I begin.

     Procrastination has really had the upper hand on this chapter.  Chapter 37, by contrast, gushed forth almost on its own.  That joyful state of affairs came to a crashing halt the instant I tried to begin Chapter 38.  38 is one of those chapters that you need in order to get from one point in the story to the next, a square that needs to be filled.  Those are always hard for me to write.  To make matters worse, I had a choice between two characters that I could use for this purpose, neither of which inspire me to warm and fuzzy feelings.  I ultimately chose a minor character that reminds me all too much of who I once was rather than the story's primary villain.  That decision has made the chapter less pleasant to write, but has allowed me to explore some important character issues (both in the minor character and in myself).

     As I mentioned in my initial post, I am currently attempting to sell a house in Alamogordo, New Mexico, by owner.  My wife and I purchased the house not quite one year ago with intentions of living there, at least part time.  As it often does, life intervened, and we have found ourselves irrevocably tied to Texas for the foreseeable future.  My wife and I decided that we should sell the Alamogordo house by owner, even though that meant that I would have to be here alone a good deal of the time.  By the way, I am supposed to finish the novel while I am here.  At any rate, one wonderful reason for my week long hiatus from writing was a week long visit from my wife and our grandson.

     I supose that I have let this blog distract me from the real work to be done for long enough, so I will close for now.  Thanks for listening.