WAITING FOR THE HIGH

For the past four days, I have been working on a story that I began writing some time ago (it feels like forever ago to me). 

It hasn't been easy.  I find myself stumbling. Stopping.  Distracted. It takes me a while to get back into my characters' heads, personalities and emotions and recall what direction I was going at the time I began writing it.

I am having that problem with Lillia, my character in this story. 

I compare this part of my writing to body surfing. When I was a teenager growing up in San Diego, I loved to body surf in the summer at Mission Beach --during my occasional breaks from sunbathing, of course.

How many times did I miss the swell in my attempts to catch that wave that would carry me to shore?  And it was frustrating.  That is how I feel right now with my writing.  I can feel the surge coming and just as I think I am in sync with Lillia and begin riding my wave of creativity...I miss it.  It falls flat and I sit there and stare at my screen, willing Lillia to speak to me. Waiting for the proverbial wave.  

Once I am in sync, something else happens, it is as if a faucet of ideas has been turned on full force and I can barely keep up with the words and ideas flooding inside my head.  Most times, I have to jot down the ideas on a steno pad to preserve them and and continue with what I am typing. 

There is a euphoria that comes from that kind of writing.  The same high that comes from catching that wave and taking it all the way in. 

So right now, I am waiting for the high.  And I know it will be worth the wait.