The Beginning

At last, the first blog post of 2016. I'm actually relieved to be writing it. I kept wracking my brain for something to write but couldn't come up with a thing. I finally decided to just jump in and sink or swim. You'll have to be the judge.

The new computer arrived the day before Christmas and as of today, has everything I need loaded and ready to write. It feels very odd on several counts. I feel as if I don't know where to start. I've looked at my novel a few times in the last week but it felt foreign to me. Proof that you shouldn't leave a work in progress to lie fallow. I'll get back into it but I suspect it will take some hard work to get the creative flow back.

I also am missing my faithful Red. That was the laptop that died. The new one, named Blue, is nice and functional but everything is unfamiliar. The keyboard feels better but I've missed my lighted keys several times. I hate the number keypad. And all the insert, delete, home, PgDn, PgUp, and end keys are in a ridiculous place and I can't find them. The mouse pad is larger! I hate mouse pads of any size. This one doesn't disengage when I plug in my wireless mouse and so I'm getting errors in my typing every time I type. Yes, I tried to disengage it. I know how and it says it is but each time I start up the system, it resets. Then, there is the screen. I hate shiny screens. My old one had a great screen and everything was very clear and sharp and there were no reflections. This one... not so much. I'm telling myself that I only need it to write. That's it. And it really is a beautiful shade of blue. I do like the blue.

This is the first Christmas I actually got gifts related to writing. I loved it! I got a new writer's book for Christmas, Character, Emotions & Viewpoint, along with those lovely inspirational paintings my daughter-in-law made for me. The paintings are hanging in my den and I'm constantly imagining my certificates, degrees, and NaNoWriMo winner certificates surrounding them. I need to paint the room and get things back in order now that the holidays are over. The writing bug is gnawing at my brain.

As a treat to myself, besides the gift of Blue, I bought two other writing books I've been wanting: The Plot Whisperer and The Writer's Thesaurus. I'm about halfway finished with the Plot Whisperer. That is a good book. I will probably have to read it twice to really get the full benefit but already I understand some things I didn't before about plot.

The last of my Christmas guest will be leaving on Tuesday and after that things will settle down to more normal routine. I hope. I've had a wonderful holiday with all the family here and I am so glad they could come. But I'm ready for the holiday to be over and life to calm down.

I leave you with the hope that your new year has begun with great joy and excitement and promise. Keep writing, no matter how difficult it gets. When pain gnaws at you, let your mind build worlds filled with interesting characters who each have their own story to tell.