I am beginning to suspect that my inner muse only thrives if it isn’t given an opportunity to be free.
It’s the third week of nanowrimo, and I’m clocking in at about 26k words of the requisite 50k. Not exactly on schedule at this rate, but I can make it if I can work in a few burst sessions (ie, if I can do about 2000 words a day, I’ll be fine). The irony for me is this month I have had an inordinate number of days off at home, where I could have been writing to my heart’s content, but haven’t.
Put me on a van ride to work with a laptop, and I shoot out 1200 words in less than an hour. Sitting at my desk at work, I jot down notes for fleshing out the scenes I’ve started. Give me a few days off where I can stay up as late as I want, nada.
I’m beginning to deduce, if not fathom, how my inner muse works. She (muses are always she’s folks, its a Law given to us by the Greeks) only moves my fingers to prose when there’s other things I should be doing, other things I must be doing. I could setup the most luxurious of writer’s garrets at home – large comfy chair, ergonomic keyboard, dual monitors, and sound cancelling headphones blaring music to put me in the mood. But there appears to be a psychological element that my writing only flourishes when I’m outside of my comfort zone, away from the things that I foolishly think I need in order to write.
Which is probably why the openoffice icon is flashing in my toolbar right now, waiting for my lunch break 🙂
In a weird way, I wonder if this isn’t a reflection of the minimalists approach to getting things done – when I’m away from the house (as it were), I don’t have access to all of the trappings of my home desk (ie, I’m at my minimalist extreme), freeing me to get things done.
Do you ever have the same problem? Where the only place or time you seem to get any work done on your pet project is when it is least convenient? I’d love to hear if there are others that face this woe (and how you deal with it). I’d hate to think this means I need to come into the office or leave the house whenever I have something I need to get done.