4 February 2010

The best part of my day is the last part of my day. That is when I finish with the job hunt and allow myself to open the file that contains my novel in progress and as I stare at the blank page, I allow a new part of the story to unfold. I can't explain what a pleasure it is when that mysterious process happens. One minute I am looking at the last sentences of a chapter and wondering where the story needs to go next. And the next moment I am creating that story out of thin air. I don't know where the ideas come from but when the first glimmer of a thread shows itself, I gently grasp it and begin to type and slowly step forward and see where it leads.

That is when time stands still or flies by or loses its shape and form altogether. And when I've finished my writing for the day, I'm really happy. For the first time in all the years that I've been writing, I'm not putting any pressure on myself. I don't care whether this novel is ever published, I'm not telling myself that everything is riding on this book. I'm writing for my own enjoyment, because although it's already 275 pages long, it's only halfway through and it's my first murder mystery, so it's a new genre and a new adventure. All of these reasons make it a pure pleasure.

Since these entries are about my journey to create the perfect career, let me add that the feeling that I have when I'm writing is what I would love to feel when I am in my right career.