I have been struggling with my current WIP this week on how to move my characters from Point A to Point B so that the story moves forward. Logically. Without any hoodo magic even though this is a paranormal and you can get away with a certain amount of hoodo if you’ve constructed your world to make it believable.
But in the scope of things using magic in this instance would have been overkill. It’s definitely time to let the reader take a breath and there isn’t any reason that logic shouldn’t prevail. The only problem is my brain has been doing a flit this week and anything at all will distract me. Anyone remember the crow in “The Secret of Nimh”? A sparkly could distract him from any situation and this week, for me, everything but my WIP has been sparkly.
So, I’ve followed Facebook, tweeted, researched police and EMT procedures, conducted an interview with a police officer and tried to figure out if what I’d done was too far outside the realm of possibilities.
Happily, I think I’m okay in that respect but none of my relaxation techniques, exercise, meditation or just spending a couple of hours watching a favorite movie was helping me to move my story forward. Until I spied the bag of apples that I’d picked up during my last trip to the grocery store. I’m one of those people who shops with the best of intentions but I don’t really think about eating until my stomach is growling and I’m about to pass out.
The apple pie became my sparkly and lo and behold while rolling out pie dough, the next part of my story started to unfold. While peeling apples I figured out why my hero and heroine needed to have separate Point B’s and by the time I could smell the cinnamon and apples baking I was blocking out my next scene.
I think I’d forgotten the Zen of doing something so familiar that I could go through the motions and still be able to think about something else. It was kind of like discovering a treasure that I hadn’t remembered losing.
What about you? Do you have a technique that gets you back on track when your brain does a flit and everything distracts you?
Have a great Thanksgiving and until next month,
Hugs,
Paris Brandon
Cross My Heart-NOR Top Pick
Head Over Heels-5 Hearts, The Romance Studio
Assassin’s Kiss-4 Stars Romantic Times Review
No Holds Barred-4 Stars JEER
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