Like many writers and creative people, I fall in and out of creative habits. Generally speaking, I'm able to find something to do that keeps my mind going and usually, though not always, kick-starts the creativity and gets the motor running.
Last year, entering a sort of winter funk, I took my friend Coyote Bill's advice and picked up THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO and just plain devoured it. Yes, it's pulpy and perhaps a little darker than some people liked, but I pretty much spend last December on a Stieg Larsson bender, reading the first Millenium novel in paperback and then, through questionable channels, obtaining and reading ebook copies of the two sequels. While there is nothing new under the sun as far as Larsson's work goes (and it's hard to judge from a translation, isn't it?) I found that the excellence of the offering outweighed its flaws; they are, put simply, incredibly entertaining novels. Certainly nothing you'd confuse with high art, but sort of a salty snack of a book, not unlike Lisbeth Salander's own junk food diet.
The greatest result of reading those books, for me, was the sudden inspiration to write a crime novel of my own, which I did in January. It's not terribly long and it needs some editing, but it was a thrilling experience that tickled my brain meats and helped me forget the weather, forget the cut hours at work, and forget nearly everything else that bothers me from time to time. I was inspired a bit by Larsson's own story, writing the Millenium novels for his own amusement at the end of the day, having spent the rest of it fighting Swedish corruption. I mean, if this was just him relaxing, surely I could relax and write something fun for myself, no?
I considered trying to write a second crime novel this winter. January is coming around and it would be nice to spend the winter nights ahead of me doing something as productive and satisfying as writing another mystery. But the unfortunate truth is that I have obligations this winter and can't really get out of them, as much as I'd like to. I could do both, I suppose, but I'd rather concentrate my energy on one project. Perhaps that will be a challenge that I rise to, but I can't be certain.
Being indecisive, I'm finding myself catching up on television programs I haven't seen. People talk about TV shows and I sort of smile and nod and ignore them, mostly because I dislike watching television by appointment. I'm a big-time time-shifter. In some cases, I'm catching up on shows that I never watched during their run, like BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.
I'm in the middle of the third season right now. People talked about it so much when it was on, I kept thinking that I should make some time and catch it, but there always seemed to be something else to do (writing, revising, going to work) and I never got around to it. Then I finally found myself doing nothing and put it on... and it was really great! I'm loving the tension and the ideas and the whole parallel between the Cylons and religious fanaticism. So it's not unusual for me to just put one episode on... and then the one after that... and then the one after that. And pretty soon, I realize that it's dark outside and I forgot to do anything productive that day.
So, keeping a promise I made to myself a while ago, I decided to start keeping a blog about the media. I seem to post about it on Facebook enough... I might as well share longform thoughts about the things I waste... er... pass my time with. At least *something* productive will come of it, no?
And now, having done this task, I think I'm going to try to sneak in a few more episodes of BATTLESTAR before the night is done.
CCH.
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