Take a day off, why not?

[rolanni]

I sat down this morning to lay the bones of the next chapter and just...couldn't get interested. I did the dishes; I did some needed but mostly invisible straightening up. I went back to the computer and forced myself to outline the scene, getting more and more antsy and disinterested as I went. I took a break and proofread the new SRM chapbook. I glared at the chapter outline and thought about taking a nap. I messed around on Live Journal. I joined Steve for lunch. I combed Hexapuma. I thought about sending the day-job bosses links to the YouTube interview, but decided...probably not. I glared at the chapter outline and disliked it intensely. I opened a file and tried to find my lead anydamnway. Found three; hated them all. Closed the file, and stalked around the house Moodily.

Explained to myself that the first section of the book was done and what I now needed to do was to get in gear and write the story of the second section.

At which point, my brain obligingly went ping! and I realized that I had got Everything Backward and that was why the scene wasn't working, Silly Author, and if I took the one! single! element! that I actually liked from the chapter I hated and spun it this way, I suddenly felt a whole lot better.

I did not, however, immediately come back to my computer and try to lay in the bones of the next chapter, based on this insight. Instead, I declared a Let's Rest the Brain afternoon, went for a walk, and then finished reading my book.

Steve has just wrapped up his day and is suggesting a glass of wine and a relaxing evening. There may be Jackie Chan involved. Or Other Things, even more esoteric.

Tomorrow, my brain will be rested and hopefully the better for having slept on the new insight.

Some days are like that, Mrs. Miller*.
----------------

*I wish I could remember anything else at all about the story I cribbed that from, years and years ago. I have a feeling that was the best line in the thing, though...

Comments

[baggette.livejournal.com]

Indeed, Mrs. Miller, some days ARE just like that......and it is well that there are those days.

[trolleypup.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, having a sudden urge to do the cat vacuuming will save you from having to later dump many hard earned words!

Enjoy your esoterica!

Tagline

[(Anonymous)]

If it came from the western genre movie "McCabe and Mrs. Miller", it very likely was the best line ...

Brom

Re: Tagline

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Never saw "McCabe and Mrs. Miller," actually.

The line in question came from a short story. I do remember a little bit more than nothing, but not the details or the author's name or the title of the story, which always makes me feel that I've forgotten everything.

The little I remember is that a woman -- Mrs. Miller, in fact -- a school teacher, begins to hear a voice that no one else can hear. It tells her things that turn out, disturbingly, to be true. The voice (I think) prompts her to leave work early and go home, where she finds her husband in bed with another woman. She leaves, and wonders the usual -- why her, weren't people better off not knowing the truth, &c -- at which point the voice says, "Some days are like that, Mrs. Miller."

Filling the Well?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Pish, tosh, you were not taking the day off. You were filling the well, restoring the creative reservoir, rejuvenating the rubber band that makes the propeller spin, rewinding ... pick thy metaphor, o great queen of the words, but admit that this is a positive action. As I find I also have difficulty taking a break, even when well-earned and needed, I'm trying to change the way we think about these restorative pauses, reflective meditations, and such... stop and listen to the world, let it fill your soul?

Thread resurrection For The Win

[(Anonymous)]

Could it possibly be:

ROBBINS, MICHAEL
* Some Days Are Like That, (ss) Little Green Men #4 1997

Found on: http://www.locusmag.com/index/t420.htm#A40415