Matthew Wayne Selznick

Just finished with another 722 words. Last night, a little over a thousand. Over the weekend, not so much. I’m up past 8,000 now — roughly one tenth of the way through, still introducing characters and setting things up. I’ve got another eighteen to twenty thousand to go, give or take, before I hit the body of the book. It might be shorter than eighty thousand, I dunno. That’s just a target.

I wanna talk briefly about what’s getting me through these words. I’ve already mentioned the direct prodding and poking of one person, and she remains instrumental and invaluable when it comes to getting my ass in the chair. I’m sure I’ve mentioned Pandora, which continues to feed the muse with, appropriately enough, music — this latest session was driven by Carla Bozulich, Willie Nelson, Gretchen Wilson, and other contemporary country and y’alternative artists. The one before was backed by Oingo Boingo and New Order to set the right mood. It varies by the characters in the scene, the mood I want to set, the feel I’m shooting for.

I’ve noticed something else — a spontaneous, heartwarming, and very effective prod. One I wouldn’t have expected, but which has really given me strength. Twitter!

When I start writing, I tell the world “what I’m doing” with a brief Twitter post. Lots of times, people tweet little lines of encouragement… and I swear it’s like having a cheerleading squad standing behind me, smiling and urging me on. Today, it was Tee and Mur. Other times, J.C. Hutchins has shown up, and others. Keep it up, my friends, and thanks. It helps!

I’ve been putting a lot of energy into those things that feed my progress, and trying to pull energy out of things that impede me. One of those things, ironically, is the writing group I became involved with at my work.

Just to be clear — I don’t have issues with the people. More and more as the weeks have passed, I’ve recognized that the assignments and critiques I need to do for the group have diminishing priority in my mind. It feels like an obligation, and it’s an obligation that gets pushed aside in favor of writing “Pilgrimage,” to the point where I’m attending to writing group responsibilities in a rush or not at all. That’s not fair to the other participants, and it’s focus and energy misspent. So I’m going to drop the writing group.

So, kids, what have we learned? Support systems have to be organic. They have to be what works for you, at the moment, for this work. For me, the encouragement and gentle policing of my closest friends is the soul-coal I need to keep this train running. My tribe, bless ‘em all.

And music.

Oh, and coffee. Don’t forget coffee.