long weekends

A five day long weekend is only a day away and I am practically jumping out of my skin to lock myself away for a few straight days of writing bliss.

For most of the year, my creative writing efforts have to be disciplined, setting aside the equivalent of one weekend day every week to put pen to paper (though in this modern day it is fingers to the keyboard). A full time day job gives me little choice so I write at least once a week, every week, whether I feel like it or not.

Some days are easier than others.

There are days when the ideas are spilling out of my mind and the words flow onto the page. On those days, I am possessed by a writing demon, whose essence bubbles away under my skin, and there are simply not enough hours in the day to capture all the words that I am driven to craft.

There are days when procrastination consumes me for several hours before even a single paragraph finds its way onto the screen. I have found, even on those days, if I sit there long enough, the words will come. Somehow filling my hours with mindless activity clears my head and then the ideas fill the empty space. I finish those days filled with wonder that the story threads emerged and managed to weave themselves onto the page guided by some invisible hand. I always think of the movie Field of Dreams when that happens, especially the line "if you build it, he will come." I simply substitute the words, "if I sit here long enough, the words will come." Because they always do.

I love long weekends because I can embrace my inner hermit, lock myself away, and write to my hearts content AND procrastinate AND then write some more. The luxury of time. As novel number two is still with agent number three, the focus this particularly long break will be drafting of novel number three. My goal will be to complete the first chapter (two scenes to write, three already written) and make some inroads into the second chapter.

And I'm feeling particularly inspired after seeing my favourite comedic storytellers at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the Pajama Men. The pair seem to have an uncanny ability to match the tangent world that is my mind with their absurb and whimsical perspective of the worlds they create with their stories. Sublime. Here's a couple of clips of their work:

http://www.articlejack.info/comedy/the-pajama-men-2011-melbourne-comedy-festival-all-stars/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSYn9Yua5c8

I will be immmersed in a fictional world for the next several days, writing and procrastinating and then writing some more.