One of my friends deals with grief and endings today and my heart breaks for her. She is not sure that she can write in the midst of it. I remember that feeling well.

When my father died, it felt as if my world shattered into pieces that could never reassemble themselves. I’ve spent every year since his death writing around it. So many of my stories, light as most of them are, deal with some little piece of shattered life from that year.

There is a meme going around that asks you to compare your 2009 self to your 2019 self in accomplishments or photos. It asks, what have you accomplished in the last decade? We saved enough money to allow me to leave my job and focus on writing but other than that the changes I’ve made are inside me. They are all about what I’ve learned and what I’ve become.

My most important accomplishment of the last ten years is reconnecting to my feelings and allowing them to deepen. So much of what we do as fiction writers requires attending to the heart, feeling the gooey center in the middle of experiences. I can’t be open to my characters if I am not open to the drama and delight of the people around me, as well. Sometimes that hurts. Mostly it feels good.

Yesterday I wrote little and focused primarily on cleaning and art. A friend gave me a challenge to illustrate and I’m pretty pleased with the image.

Today is our write-in at the Germantown Panera Bread. I intend to write around 2,000 words today, which will put me ahead. I look forward to losing myself in my world. My characters are in a pretty difficult situation. All of their possessions are gone. Two of them are naked. One is injured. Now they must survive in the desert. I can’t wait to see how they are going to get out of this one.

Hope your worlds are deep and interesting today.

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