Tonight was a stellar night for me and Akiniwazi. Both creatively and healthwise.
As most will know, I am not in the greatest of health, due to a shattered elbow and long term weight problems. It had left me very sedentary, for too long, and I’m now trying to reverse that trend. The problem is that I never could seem to get my butt out the door. Nothing motivated me enough. Well, tonight, that changed.
For most of my youth, I used to walk a lot. Miles and miles. A mile walk or bikeride to school. Plus, I was a paperboy and had to walk my route. I did not have many friends, so I entertained myself by telling myself stories and working on RPGs I was playing or running. But occasionally, a friend would accompany me and we’d talk for hours while we walked. I miss it and it’s a habit I sorely miss today.
Combine this with me struggling with a touch of agoraphobia and hating to be out in public for various reasons, and my physical issues, my situation got worse and worse.
So what changed?
Tonight I got someone to talk to, and was able to unburden myself with all the book secrets and long term plotline of Akiniwazi. I mean they got EVERYTHING. “Inside Baseball” level of info dumpage. But I noticed as I talked, I was pacing in my apartment constantly, so I said:
“Self, Get your pants and shoes on and start walking and see what happens.” So out the door I went and started walking around my complex. At least it was evening so it’s not like I burst into flame from the sun. Ick, sun.
The reason I needed to talk like this is I have been struggling with how to finish the beginning hook. I had the pieces sitting there in front of me, mocking me because I didn’t know how to put them together. I did not want to mirror what happened in the previous book, and I sure wanted it to be exciting. So, after all the big plot expose was done, and I left my collaborator in shock, I broke it back down to this one little piece of the picture and started trying to talk it out, because that’s how my creative process works best. It was like putting a can of “Sea Foam” engine cleaner into a 40 year old engine! It blew out so much black smoke and noise but in a few minutes of running it, the storyline became clear again!
And boy did it have a few logical twists I never expected too! What really made me the most happy is that I was walking and never noticed my back. See, sitting for work so much as both a commercial driver and now a desk jockey, my back, butt and thigh muscles have atrophied a lot, and walking hurts. I had to stop every once in a while, but long story short, I’m fairly certain I walked about 2 miles tonight for the first time in about a decade! That unto itself is cause for celebration for me.
Plus I cleared out a huge narrative problem that will leave the beginning hook’s resolution a lot cleaner, logical and tragic all in one swell foop! I still don’t know what I’m going to do to top it for the climax… well not true, but I don’t quite know in what form that climax is going to take. Once again, the middle build conclusion might be more dramatic as it currently stands. I dunno. See, this is the problem with the complexity of this book and what it will launch coming up. Book 3 is going to have to get fatter still… and I love it.
Anyhoo…
2 miles of walking.
Major plot point fixed.
Enthusiasm pressure restored.
Time to release the brakes and start rolling forward.
Thank you all for coming on this ride with me.
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