I now completely understand the stereotypical accounts of novelists locking themselves into a hotel room or renting s secluded cabin in order to focus on their book. It takes time. It takes commitment. But then again it also requires the ability to drift in and out. You may need to clear your head and listen to a song, or meditate, or scream, but as soon as the shard of an idea embeds itself into your mind, then you need to get deep into it again right away without hesitation. It can't be on anyone else's schedule. You can't respond to something that will "just take a minute." It may look like you're doing nothing, or relaxing, but to get drawn out of process can ruin everything unless its you that wants to be drawn out of it. And when your looking relaxed and you reply to someone with "No, I'm busy." And they realize you're not joking. You look like a real asshole. A relaxed asshole, but an asshole nonetheless.

I'v had some really good moments these past couple months, but really this past week to get myself into my music and my writing. I've got up on stage twice to play tunes at open mics, I've played at two social engagements (pool parties and BBQs) where musicians have traded songs and played off each other, I've learned 3 new cover songs in record time that I've played at these open mics and parties, I've collected lyrics for potentially a new song, and Ive made some decent head way on the novel.

Decent head way on the novel. What does that mean? This time around it means a few things; a whole lot of writing that no one will see, deleting not only text but characters, and coming up with a much better base for the story because I now truly understand who these characters are. Or, probably better put, I now understand what makes them tick, what makes them so complex, what makes them do what they do and say what they say.

I was able to do this because I was away from the usual daily stuff. Yeah I was working remotely on my day job, but when that chunk of time was over I was able to do for me what i wanted to do for me for the most part. And this past week, well, what a privileged situation to be in. I'm currently looking down about 7km of beach and I see a total of twelve people. Where?. You may ask but I ain't telling because I like it this way.

My wife is with me, she's one of the twelve in my line of sight right now. Lately, she has seen me busy working, but can't recognize that I'm busy working because creativity looks a lot like having a nap with my guitar in a hammock. I try my best not to sound grumpy and keep my grumbling and harrumphing to a almost inaudible level. Because even though it is hard work. Its the best kind of hard work that anyone could ever do.