Saturday, March 14, 2020

Year 5 of an Indie Writer: Week 11

by
Scott D. Parker

Well, it's been a week.

I'm not going to spend much time about the COVID-19 virus because it's all over the news and sometimes, we need to step away from the news. Just for a little bit. It's good to put some distance between the constant news scrolling across our screens or the various tweets on Twitter.

This is Spring Break down here in Houston and my wife's birthday. I took two days off from the job. One day was spent here in town, having a nice brunch, catching a showing of "The Invisible Man," and ended with some excellent sushi. The other day involved us traveling to Alvin, Texas, to visit the antique mall, a lunch at Killen's BBQ in Pearland, Texas, and a Half Price Books stop. Found HELLBENT, the third Orphan X novel by Gregg Hurwitz. I love finding books you want out in the wild.

Both days had me away from the news and social media for large swaths of both days. It was a nice break, especially when we tuned back into the news and seeing our new reality set in. I'd recommend it from time to time. Remain vigilant, of course, but you don't have to be vigilant 24/7.

The two-day break wasn't the only good thing this week.

Between Stories


Over on his website, Steven Pressfield had a timely post. It stemmed from a question: What to do between books.

His answer: there should be no 'between books.'

Why? Because it kills your momentum. Pressfield paraphrases the bodybuilder Jack Lalanne: every day we miss, it is that much harder to start writing again.

Boy, ain't that the truth. I started writing a new story for an anthology this week. Yay! The opening scene was pretty easily penned in one session. Yay again. Chapter 2 not so much. I know what I am going to write--mostly--but the words didn't flow as smoothly as when I was writing every day.

But the good news was the words came. And it felt good to be writing again, especially this week.

I started on 11 March, which was my grandfather's birthday. I aim to keep the momentum going.

For both things: writing and in creating breaks from the news.

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