Learn From It

I haven't been writing here much lately. That is not to say I haven't been writing. But that, in turn, is not to say I have been prolific. But a fecund imagination is where the writing always starts for me, and this time around appears to be no exception.

I carry index cards and pens with me: in the back pocket of my jeans, in the car, in my backpack, at my desk at home, at my desk at work. So totally analog, I know! But it's more immediate than opening up an iBook or even firing off an email-to-self. And there's something further-fertile in arranging the index cards with no regard to the order in which they were written and no regard to any kind of kind-groupings. Jangly juxtaposition is a powerful tool for me, rising above the mental quirks of sitting down to write (the font and the size and the margins must be Just So in order for me to write narrative, for example—and these days, I favor MacJournal in its brilliantly simple and self-effacing Fullscreen mode, with Baskerville 14.0 pt text and a column width of 4.5 inches).

On the train, I've even slowed the reading I so love doing, in order to think about character development, plot points, devices and settings. Connectivity is the enemy, one of the unwelcome distractions that obstructs the path as the novel tries to find its way. I do so love trains. How did I manage to forget that over the years?

Ironic that this blog approaches the 100,000 milestone, that the entries have become less frequent.

I hope that I find a better balance. Nothing but serious-delerious good things have come from having this blog. It's not going away, much as the Confederacy of Christian Dunces would wish otherwise.

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