A Milestone

Congratulations!

We're at the '250 days until finished' milestone. I like the word 'milestone'. Even though it's not exactly metric, everyone understands that it is a point along a path (or road) towards a dead line (or finish line) along which you employ a task (or drive a car with Muses in the back). And I like it because I firmly believe that the path is more important than the goal. I really do. What joy would writing else wise be?

Anyway, it is a milestone in more than one way. After I found out that I cannot force myself to write 2000 words a day, because then it becomes a chore, and no one likes doing those, I have become a little bit more wiser about what does motivate me to write. First reading other people's work. That I already knew. It is however not just that I read or even what I read, but also when I read. Reading and getting juiced up to write does not work when it's 11pm and I'm lying in bed ready to fall asleep (somehow reading is the ultimate sleep inducer for me). When I type away trying to match the speed of my thoughts on the keyboard, I work up a good sweat. And I really don't like going to sleep all sweaty and with my mind racing. So reading in the morning with a cup of coffee will get me pumped up.

I've also discovered that I should stay away from the Internet, online games and TV. If I watch something mind numbing or simply too time consuming I end up not wanting/able to write anymore. I need a good period of time to start up. I think 15 years of software engineering has conditioned me to the '12-minute' rule. Every designer knows that you need 12 minutes before you enter 'the zone' and can lose every distraction around you to a background static and produce some seriously cool work. With writing for me it's like that as well, only even more intense. I need to be there with my characters. I need to feel the action breathing down my neck. Hear the dialogue being spoken with passion. See the wonderful worlds with my inner eye. So no distractions or creative mind sucks.

Finally I need to have an inspirational place to work. In my workroom on the top floor of our townhouse it works, because of the abundance of light from all sides, the nice draft, the silence (with exception of the birds, but that's a plus) and the comfortable warmth (I can type in my shorts all year long). I sometimes vacate to a coffee shop nearby with good ambiance and tomorrow we'll be leaving for the beach for 5 days, so I wonder what inspiration that might (or might not) give me.

I'm discovering a lot about myself when writing (or not) and it's all good. It feels like sampling a totally new taste at a buffet of foreign foods: you are still the same, but you discover what you like and what you don't and it all feels and tastes fresh. And I am glad that I'm able to explore my strictly creative side on a professional base for the first time in years. Not having any IT work is refreshing and actually...a good thing. I saw 'Up in the Air' the other day and like Clooney's character siad: 'Anybody who ever built an empire, or changed the world, sat where you are now. And it's *because* they sat there that they were able to do it.' I like to phrase that sentiment as such:

Change is nothing but opportunity for which one only needs to look through the glasses of creativity to recognize it.

So here's to a milestone of change. 

P.S. On that note: the next five days of blogs I'm giving you different excerpts of the book Nancy and I are writing. Please feel free to comment on style, content and overall feel. Do keep in mind though it's a first rough draft.