Musings & Thoughts for Saturday, March 2, 2024, or: A Writer’s Life Has its Highs…and its Lows

Late Morning, Saturday, March 2, 2024, Madison, New Hampshire

Hi, all.

Well, here we are at the beginning of the first weekend of March 2024, which is also the first one of meteorological spring (the spring equinox, or “traditional” spring, arrives on March 19). It’s a cold and sometimes gray New England morning. We’ve got a bit of bad weather moving in our direction, and the current temperature is 39°F (4°C) under cloudy skies. With humidity at 48% and the wind blowing from the south-southwest at 5 MPH (7 KMH), the feels-like temperature is 46°F (8°C).

Today’s forecast calls for scattered light rain showers and a high of 48°F (9°C). Tonight, we can expect scattered light rain and snow showers. The low will be 34°F (1°C).

On Writing & Storytelling: A Frustrating Friday

If Thursday was a terrific day for me on the novel-writing front (I wrote 1,547 words and ended up with good material), yesterday was frustrating as all get out.

I don’t know whether it’s because I was overconfident and thought that I could pick up where I left off in Scene Six with the same amount of mental energy and creativity I had the day before, or I’m pushing myself too hard, but the last day of my workweek was a bust. No matter what I tried, and even though I’d ended Thursday’s writing on a clearly defined stopping point that lent itself to a relatively easy transition to the next bit, I failed to add any “new words” and end Scene Six on a satisfactory note.

I tried. I honestly tried my best to continue the scene that my friend Juan likes so much – he told me, in an email, that it’s the best writing he’s seen for Reunion: Coda thus far, and he truly likes the novel in its entirety – but…Calliope, the fickle Muse that she can be at times, might have been distracted, because I ended up doing “literary housekeeping” (making edits and revisions) instead of writing fresh copy.

Oh, well. That’s the way things go in a writer’s life, I suppose. We’ll see what happens on Monday.

Saturday’s Agenda

I don’t know what, exactly, I will do today after I publish this on WordPress. I briefly considered working on the novel for at least an hour, but as it stands, I don’t feel up to it. I’m tired, and I can’t write good material when I’m not at my best, either physically or mentally. I love what I do – telling stories and sharing them with the world – and I wouldn’t want to do anything else as a profession. But…it can be difficult at times – not to mention lonely and time-consuming – and so far, anyway, I can’t say I’m making a living from it….yet.

I have no idea what I will do today, although I do need to go to the store and restock up on food soon. I have enough supplies for the weekend, but I don’t like worrying about not having any for the rest of the week. I can’t go today, but Patti’s husband Marc said he’ll take me tomorrow.

In all likelihood, I’ll follow my usual end-of-week routine…and try to not think too much about the novel. After all, we writers – especially the ones who aren’t in the same league as Stephen King, James Patterson, or Nora Roberts – need to relax, too!