I hanker for the days of just doing it: here’s the environment, here’re the characters – See them walk! Action reveals character! Environment reveals theme!

The days of just firing up the laptop, typing in FADE IN:, and seeing what happens next are long gone. Time is finite. Enthusiasm will carry one only so far.

I’m trying to draw some comfort from John August, et al, about writing faster and smarter. And I shall not forsake the small voice of stubborn and wilful ignorance in my head – How hard can it be to [INSERT TASK/PROJECT]?

It’s a good rule of thumb in life to take things in one’s stride with little ditties like:
- it’s gonna be okay;
- take a deep breath;
- five years from now, we’ll laugh uproariously about this moment.

The key word above is moment.

At this very moment, I’m questioning every goddamned thing about a project I’m grinding through.

It’s a project I’ve nourished for some time now, we’ve recently survived the I’ve fallen out of love with you phase, but right now, I’m asking embarrassingly basic questions like:
- what’s my hero’s motivation?
- what’s the theme of my story?
- how best can I begin my story?

I know the answers to all of the above for this project.

But they’re not enough.

Not right now.

Five years from now, I’ll chuckle gently about this moment.

For now, I’ll take a deep breath.

It’s gonna be okay.