Slogging Along

I made some real progress late last week on my novel.  Now, I'm just trying to get my mind back into the story to continue.  A lot of artists/writers around me say the inspiration comes in spurts, and in order to inspire those moments, he/she will go to great lengths to try and recreate the last instance that worked.  I've discovered this is how I work as well; maybe if I park my car in this spot...no, maybe the one right next to it...that's a little better, maybe if I cross my legs...nope, maybe if I cross them the other way and place my cup of coffee in the left cup holder, not the right one...on and on and on and on.  It's really strange!  I have my little quirks when it comes to getting into the 'zone' of writing and I was very happy to discover that my struggles are not that uncommon.

I'm still working on the second half of chapter 7, after taking a small break to read a novel (see my entry from today) that didn't inspire me the way I had hoped - other than inspiring me not to write what I am now calling a 'fluffy' book.  You know the ones - where there's no real substance, the sentences read something along the lines of 'he looked at her and realized how lonely he was' (which brings back memories of romance novels I used to read as a teenager), and the plot centers around...nothing, really.  My novel is not going to be fluffy if I have anything to say about - that's why you have people critique your work and editors comb through the book before being published (if my book makes it there).  No fluff for me.