When inspiration hits

I haven't done much writing in January because I was unravelling the many knots of Chapter 7.

First, the characters were arguing about one thing when they should have been arguing about something else. Second, I had the wrong characters arguing. And last, I had misunderstood the real reasons why my characters wanted to argue about this matter in the first place. It's important that this argument takes place at this crucial moment, but basically every detail surrounding it had to be re-imagined.

So I didn't write, but every day I asked myself the important questions and waited for the answers to present themselves. Some mornings I brainstormed possibilities for my brain to process. I read quietly. Napped. Practiced yoga. Took baths. Snacked.

Some questions cleared up over time, but one detail bothered me still. Then one night, while watching Coronation Street, my thought process went something like this:

"Oh, right -- that's the actor that was on the original Queer as Folk. Vince, I think was the character's name. Hey! R should just have her meltdown in front of C."

No segway. No warning. My brain was finally uncluttered enough to produce the answer I was looking for, and there it was. A writer friend of mine, Paul, experienced the same thing the other day when the idea for a short story to bring his collection together suddenly appeared while running in Verdun.

You can't yank inspiration our of your brain. Some days I hate my slow writing pace, and wish I could muscle my way through the writing, but such is my process. All I can do is create the ideal setting for that idea to appear.

And with that, I really must take a nap.