But will it work?

I have this minor issue. I write novel length fiction but I never quite finish it. It’s always a draft that needs work. This is a substantial problem for my life as a writer, I can’t actually sell stuff that’s not quite ready.
So as I finished a draft of the story that I refer to as The Origin of the Wells (though I plan to change that) and I had it in that place where I needed to make a few edits and minor changes, I became impossibly stuck. Usually I just abandon the project and start playing with something else but I wanted to push this through. Unfortunately that meant I had writing time that I was balking at using. Again, not so good for my life as a writer.
Somehow I ended up leaving the library with the book The Artist’s Way. (I blame God, I really can’t remember why or how I ended up with it.) And since the author’s goal with the book is helping creative types get unblocked and/or unstuck, I thought it would make sense to at least open it. It offers a twelve week ‘course’ and in the beginning the author (Julia Cameron) asks you to sign a contract that you’ll complete the whole plan. I wrestled with the joint problems of gross over-enthusiasm (this is going to be amazing, revolutionize my working life!) and a passive sort of cynicism (it’s going to be a big drain on my time and I’m going to end up in exactly the same place I started, just twelve weeks later). But I decided that I was probably going to sit and procrastinate for twelve weeks anyway so I might as well give it a try.
So that’s what I’ve been doing. So far I’ve written less than usual but I did shove the draft of Origin forward enough to give it to my favorite copy editor. (Conveniently, I’m married to him so he works for free.) The main reason I did that much work was because I invited a bunch of my friends to a Tea Party/Ceremony to celebrate the finished draft. (I don’t work well to deadlines, I just don’t work at all without them.)
Of course, I only did about half of what was really required so I have several things that I know he’s going to redline. And, while he may not catch it, I never sat down and worked out the continuity and timing of the one character’s pregnancy. They use a different dating convention (ten day spans instead of seven day weeks) so I need to make sure her pregnancy is progressing at a normal pace and I can’t just easily glance at it. (I had to make it more complicated, didn’t I?)  But the process of working through The Artist’s Way is my major activity right now. I’m not sure its helping me write but it is helping my relationship with God, so I won’t complain. I’m just beginning the sixth week and I should finish the process around Christmas. So, we’ll see if I have a burst of creative production for 2009. (I’ll take a beneficial steady stream.)

Eight Random things-- a game of blog tag

I was picked by Julie at One Lap Around the Sun
My list--
1. I tend to create a nest, a place I always sit surrounded by books, paper, pens, half-full mugs, and such
2. I take strong tea with a lot of sugar in the morning
3. I use sudoku puzzles and solitaire games to help me when I’m feeling anxious
4. I’d rather stay up until 4 or 4:30 in the morning and sleep until 11:30, but I rarely get the chance
5. I like looking at floor plan books and magazines
6. I can get totally overloaded in places with too many sounds and screens and people and, apparently, it’s funny to see me glaze over
7. When I write, I use pen and paper and then type it later (sometimes a pencil)
8. I prefer cooler weather, autumn is my favorite season

The eight bloggers I tagged are:
1. Sean at a sustained nuclear assault
2. Lili at thinkingsofalili.blogspot.com
3. ‘Professor Blog’ at thousandwords.blogspot.com
4. to be announced
5. to be announced
6. to be announced
7. to be announced
8. to be announced
It's hard coming into the game in progress. Julie and I know a lot of the same blogs.

Here are the rules, if you'd like to participate in the Eight Random Things Blog Tag:
1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

Thanks for playing!
KP

Blog Slacker

I had the time to write a great blog or take a nap-- I chose the nap. When I was considering whether or not to start a blog, and friends encouraged me to do so, I had two fears. The first was that I would get so sucked up and drawn into blog world that nothing else would get done unless it was directly screaming at me. The second fear was that I would start it and then slowly drift away and have this nagging relic of a thing I left dangling.
I do that sometimes, I get enthused about a new project and then it becomes part of the ordinary and everyday world. And I’m only so-so on the everyday part of life. I like a good meal and kid hugs, but I generally like fantasy and science-fiction and the NOT ordinary. I lose track of what the point is in the everyday and mundane (kid hugs are always important and the food, well, I just like food).
I’m half listening to a couple at church sharing a testimony about how God brought them through her battle with cancer (yes, I’m in church, not really giving it my full attention--sorry). They were asked if they would undo the cancer, change that part of history if they were given the option (which is one of those questions I hate). And their answer is about how suffering produces growth and change and such and I will assume that I missed the best part of that answer/response because I was thinking about how much I struggle with things that seem pointless and repetitive. (Rote learning was never my strong suit. Talk about ways to bring out my oppositional streak.) The more ordinary something becomes, the more repetitive, the more it seems to provide no benefit, the more it annoys me. Of course, I only make the bed when I’m changing the sheets, because all I’m going to do is sleep in it. (If my room were also a study or some other living space, I might feel differently, but...)
Unfortunately, I have rambled to say that I’ve become a blog slacker. Now, in my regular life, things are acceptably clean and bills get paid on time and my child gets fed regularly, so I can get things done. But I have to move past the the first failing (becoming absorbed) and the second failing (neglecting it completely) and into the place where I know why it matters and how far to let it affect me. (Because perfectionism is waiting it’s turn. No, correct that, it is screaming at me now about how I sound like a jerk and there is no way I could possibly post this.)
The thing about blogging is, I enjoy reading everyone else’s posts. Then I see my listing on the blogs of people I care about... Three weeks ago... a month ago... and I realize that I’m not playing along. So, while I keep hoping to share what is important or deep or spiritual, I’ll try to at least share something. Because what I care about is the sense that I have connected with the friends I know, and maybe one or two I have the opportunity to know yet.