Blog Post No. 545
Now that I’m finally getting back to some writing (and editing) I’ve been thinking more about all the tricks, tropes, and clichés that artists use to fool the audience into feeling emotions. Music swells, movie editors cut to closeups, and writers do something that I try to do naturally and not analyze too much in case I get too aware of it and somehow ruin my ability to write. (Or give the protagonist some inner dialogue to flesh out what they’re feeling, or my preferred method of giving them an overly obvious expression to show the reader how they feel).
I’m not going to claim that after a week and one writing session that I’m back on track with my writing and editing. That’s going to be a long, slow process, especially as I have to figure out what the new job means for my writing schedule. Chances are I’m going to be doing some solo evening writing in order to keep up any reasonable schedule (and progress). I feel like I’ve taken the first step in that area, though. Now, there’s another aspect of my life that needs some attention and, if successfully added to my routine, should help just about everything.
I’m now a couple of weeks into the new position at the Day Job and while I still feel like my hair is about to fall out (due to stress) I am starting to settle into a more consistent routine with my days off. One of the benefits of the new job was supposed to be the consistent schedule, though for the first two weeks, I had made some concessions in consideration of the new employees who had a rushed training. Now, ideally, I’ll get back to some consistency (my precious routine) and with any luck, that means getting back to at least a little bit of writing.
I’ve been working the New Day Job for just over a week, now and I think I finally get what people are on about when they say they struggle to keep work time and non-work time separate. I’ve read articles or heard anecdotal accounts over the years about separating work from home and how to disconnect from the office. In the time of work-from-home there are even more that describe the methods people use to stop working when their day is technically over but they’re still at the “office” since in some cases it’s the same place where they live.
It’s actually happening and as I write this, I don’t know how I feel about it. This Saturday, I’m going to be in Chatham at the 
I’ve always had a poor sense of my own feelings and emotions in general. I’m starting my post off this way in an attempt to explain why, when I experience something, I never know if it’s universal or not. Usually, it is, like the feeling of a shower at the end of a long day or that sensation of being in the groove (for me when I’m writing). One feeling I’m sure most people have, is the dread that can settle in the evening (especially right before bed) when you’re stressed or feeling overwhelmed about something. Hopefully, the more upbeat sense that things aren’t so insurmountable that comes in the morning (usually aided by being too busy to worry so much because you have to get to work on time) is also something most people feel.
I’m feeling a little disconnected right now. It’s April and for the previous five years in April I had a book come out in the 
I had to be at the day job early on Sunday. (It was stupidly early). I had been dreading it for weeks as among the rest of the hectic schedule we’d been facing (the day job and myself personally) the very early shift was a beacon of impending exhaustion (for the really incredibly early start and the busyness of the event itself). The funny thing is that I’ve been struggling with where to go in the novella I’m currently writing, and it was while I was getting dressed in the (rather spectacularly early) morning that I was struck with a bolt of inspiration.
I was going to title this week’s post A Room of One’s Own, then I looked up the title in Wikipedia. I knew it was the name of an essay by Virginia Wolf, and I knew it had something to do with needing a space (and money) in order to write, what I forgot was that she was taking about the specific issues women faced when writing fiction and I really didn’t want to co-opt that (even as a silly tittle for a dumb blog post). As I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, this post will deal with the basic idea of needing space, physically and mentally, in order to write. (There are plenty of great women writers that you should check out for more on their personal struggles like Brittni Brinn, Elly Blake, and Vanessa Shields, among many others). 
Ben Van Dongen 