Friday, March 12, 2010

Gathering rosebuds

My spring hypomania seems to be here early, and I'm taking full advantage of it. These moments are so rare, when my head is full of words and I'm not too exhausted to put them down on virtual paper. I've returned to my 1,000-word daily goal to try to finish the first draft of The Prince of Tricks by the end of May. I'd love to have it done in time for the cruise, but I don't know if I'm quite that hypomanic.

I'm listening again to Kate Bush's Aerial as I write and work through plot points while walking to and from work or riding on Muni. I've never listened to any other album this much. I keep waiting to get tired of it, but every time I play it, Kate takes me spinning up into the St. Petersburg White Nights on the wings of my demons (and I'm sure she would never have thought to invoke anything of the sort with this music). One night during my trip in 2006, I sat in the late-evening light and listened to both disks while watching the sun pretend to set outside the balcony of my little room in the Lesnoy Prospekt flat, and it transports me there when I close my eyes.

Because I listened to it while writing the last three books, it also sometimes transports me to places I've never been with images of things I have never seen: like the Aurora Borealis over the Arkhangel'sk skies across fields of rime frost, or the monastery on Solevetsky in the White Sea. Sometimes it's a ride on the Trans-Siberian rail. But everywhere it takes me, it's full of rosebuds, and I'm gathering them while I may.

5 comments:

  1. You're an efficient writer - it sounds like you use your time well, just like I should learn to use mine. You actually notice when you're NOT writing! I guess that's the tough side of being a published writer who actually needs to spend the money.

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  2. After spending several years not writing due to major depression, I don't want to waste any time. When I don't write, the depression cycle kicks in again, so I find having a deadline and a daily goal to reach it really helps. As for money, heh, well, it'd be nice to have some, but in 12 years, I've made enough from writing to maybe last two weeks if I'd had to live on it. ;) In the meantime, the day job keeps food on the table and ink in the printer, and the dream keeps me typing away.

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  3. I love the idea of listening to music as you write, letting the mood of the melody inspire the scene. But every time I try it, I'm more distracted than "in the moment." I should try Kate Bush, though. Love her!

    Best of luck in all your writing projects :)

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  4. If you live in an apartment with noise from the neighbors and maybe a spouse who sometimes needs noise when you need silence, headphones and a little music can be quieter than quiet.

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  5. Thanks, Nicole. :) Kate is pretty much the only music I can listen to while writing (unless it's classical music), but I do have a tendency to want to sing her stuff, which can defeat the purpose. :D Usually, though, she's more of a mood-setter for when I'm doing edit readthroughs or writing in my head in transit.

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