Tomato Soup of Doom

 

Aside from cringing in pain for several hours this afternoon, I haven't done much that I consider "useful" today. Thankfully, the Tomato Soup of Doom seems on it's way out of my system now. (Note to self: Never use soy milk in condensed tomato soup -- at least the "Healthy Request" kind.)

Earlier today I did manage to get out of the apartment and work on Novella for a few hours. I'm trying to make a habit of traveling to a coffee shop and working on the outline over a Caramel Cooler. Drink bad, writing good. I figure the two ultimately cancel each other out.

My writing seems to have taken leave of me the last few days. The words did not come quickly or easily. Worse yet, I couldn't "see" my characters either. That's my favorite way to write. I spend a great deal of time creating the characters, putting myself in their head -- in their world. Then, I set up the primary events of the story and let the characters act it out in my head.

In recent years, this sort of image based thinking has been more difficult for me to attain. For a while, I thought I lost the ability. The truth was that I was relying on it so much to run my miswired brain that I couldn't think in any other manner. After that was fixed with biochemical alteration, the ability was buried. I gained faster and better ways to think. My brain for the first time, worked as it should.

The consequence is that often I can't quite "access" the ability. This afternoon was one of those days. It could be fatigue, or the fact that I should have eaten lunch before I started. The coffee shop was also terribly noisy. In any case I was disappointed in my progress.

When I came home I decided to draw for a while instead. At first what I produced was horrible. I haven't drawn in months and I had become rusty. I munched on a Lean Cuisine pizza and doodled, trying to remember how to draw. Eventually, I found my technique after carefully drawing a pair of eyes. After another hour, I managed to draw several human figures.

I may have not "produced" anything today, but it felt good to put forth the effort.