Today may be Monday, but I’m feeling pretty excited. This is
unsurprising. I have a number of things to be excited about. This is the first
time in a few weeks that my un-air-conditioned apartment is not punishingly
hot; my favorite coffee mug has come back into rotation after a few weeks of
being mysteriously MIA; and Jeff and I are heading to Michigan this weekend to
watch some of our favorite people get married, with even more of our favorite
people beside us. Also, I’m excited because being a writer kicks infinite
amounts of ass.
There are lots of writing-specific things about being a
writer that are obviously pretty great. For instance, I’ve recently hit that
point in the novel-writing process where I’m generating more relevant, usable
material than random crap—the point where characters develop beyond cool
monikers found on baby name websites (WARNING: these are writers’ crack and
should be viewed with a timer limiting how long you spend on them) and the hair
colors and generically quirky personality traits I’ve somewhat arbitrarily
assigned to them. The plot is still a loose outline, but it’s more involved
than “interesting characters face interesting obstacles while attempting to
achieve interesting goals.” Ah, sweet progress!
Being a full-time writer also comes with additional perks
and surprises that help the “I woke up in the middle of the night laughing
hysterically about a line of dialogue I thought up in a dream” aspects of the
job far outweigh the “I spend all day holed up in a room with my laptop and
imaginary people” parts. These aren’t specifically linked to the act of writing
itself, but are related to the job and are similarly awesome.
Here are some tidbits of the writerly life that are
currently leaving me happy.
1.
I sleep for a human number of hours almost every
night. I never knew it was possible to feel so physically rested. This has
little to do with writing, besides the fact that I make my own work hours; but
it tops the list because I could cry sometimes when I realize that the
beautiful, majestic unicorn of the 8-hour sleep is more than just a myth.
2.
Adequate sleep does not displace my
inexhaustible need for caffeine; but the fact that I can pee whenever I want, and not just twice a day during set
hours, has done away with the requirement to abstain from liquids (caffeinated
or otherwise) during work. This, incidentally, is one of the few parts of
teaching that I do not miss even slightly.
3.
Now that I sleep for long enough to experience
the joys of REM, I am having some pretty incredible dreams! Two nights ago, for
instance, I had a dream involving characters from my novel interacting with
characters from one of my favorite books and one of my favorite TV shows. I’m
going to tentatively dub this phenomenon Nerdvana. I think the only thing that
might surpass this is if someone, someday, starts writing crossover fanfiction
based on my and others’ books.
4.
I have time to read…whatever books I want to read! Is this real life???
5.
Because it is, apparently, an unshakable part of
my identity, I still pull the occasional all-nighter. However, these are
precipitated merely by my desire to continue writing the words I am writing.
They include only the happiest forms of cursing and swearing, and I never
consume 4am Ramen in a fit of need and self-loathing.
In short, my life is sweet.
No comments:
Post a Comment