Greasing the Wheels

In Doug Clegg's most recent blog entry, he wrote: There's a point in a novel where, if I leave it even for a day, it takes many days to get back into it. I've found it's better to just cancel other plans and focus on the writing. Sometimes, I've lost friends over this, although perhaps I've lost them for other reasons.

This is something that non-writers have trouble grasping. When a book is in your head, and I mean really in your head, it is all consuming. It takes you over and, damn the torpedos, you have to ride that beast until it quits bucking. I've known writers who have lost their aforementioned friends, spouses, significant others, and the like, to the all powerful muse. She is jealous and demands your time, because if you're not writing it, you're thinking about it, and when you're thinking about it everything else falls away and is neglected. A story burns deep and is maddening, especially if you write without a net (like I do).

I'm one of the lucky ones. My wife Kim is very supporitive of my writing. She sees the wheels turning and is gracious enough to clear the way for me to speed toward a story's conclusion. I am more than grateful for her support and I honestly doubt I could do this without her. She greases the wheels that turn and is as important to the process as I am. She keeps the house together, the bills paid, the child cared for...while I slouch off into the dark of night to spend what hours I may crafting my tenebrious tales.

She is my most valuable asset. Every writer should have one.