Busy Brain

I haven't told you, but I've been a little cranky the last few days -- that's because I was supposed to be working on an outline for my next book. Only, I kept getting stuck. But you knowwhat I discovered? That when I stopped worrying about it, my brain kept working... so this morning, when I sat down to put together all the bits and pieces of ideas that had come to me over the last few days... well, it turned into an outline! Interesting how sometimes our brains keep solving problems even when we aren't conscious that that's happening.

This weekend, I felt even crabbier when I read that American writer Jonathan Franzen (author of The Corrections, and most recently, Freedom) is able to figure out his plots in just an afternoon. He's obviously a lot smarter and quicker than I am!! The article about Franzen appeared in Saturday's Globe & Mail. My favourite part of the interview was when Franzen talked about what made him feel good: "a day in which I get some writing done is by definition a good day, and a day in which I don't can never be that good a day." Well, we've got that in common at least!!

We're leaving tonight for three weeks in France and probably also Spain. Not to worry, dear blog reader, I'll do some entries from there -- and of course, I'll keep writing because like Franzen, I want to have as many good days as I can. I've got to do some last minute organizing now. My cousin is coming to stay and I want to leave the house in ship-shape condition.