It's not good to waste too much time. A lot of good can come from only one or two hours. Not everyday can be an all-day writing day, but I've learned to write everyday, even if it's just a little, so that I can maintain the flow and the momentum.
But this November I came up with a new invention: car writing. Now this would not have been possible without my brother's help. Thank you Chris. Around the holidays there's lots of traveling to be done. Drive one place that is a couple of hours away, and that's a couple hours of writing that gets done. Driving somewhere else, and that's another couple hours. This adds up. The pages add up. I am happy.
Now my typewriter was not the right tool for the job. So I used my laptop, which is still quite new and has a good battery life. My writing seat in the car is usually the same: the back right seat. Sitting there I am away from Chris and less of a distraction. When I'm writing, there's the sound of my fingers working the keys, and the expressions on my face, and even sometimes little blasts of vocal delight that come out as I'm writing.
The first time I tried some car writing, it went very well. Of course I took some necessary steps that I knew would help me maintain the flow. I wore headphones or earplugs. I wore a hat with a brim that I wore down low to minimize my view of the world. The trick was not to get too excited about the sunlight and the road, but rather to stay inside that page.
And then there's the beer. The beer is there because I don't want to get motion sick. The hot acidic flow of vomit is not the flow my laptop needs. I do get car sick if I'm not looking around. And I've thrown up on boats before. But then I learned of a simple cure. All you have to do is have a few beers. Two or three is all you really need, unless you're out longer. I always thought the beer would make it worse on the boat, but then I tried it. It worked so well. And I haven't gotten motion sick on a boat since. So before I hop in the car with Chris, I drink a beer or two. Then I hunker down and work.
As for the actual act of car writing, many of my books are about my travels on the roads of America. And so there's a natural and good feeling to be felt when I'm on the road and writing about the road.
And so it goes--flowing through November, writing on the road, writing at home, getting into that warm and cozy state of mind which is the holiday-state-of-mind. You know what they say. It's a good life if you don't weaken.
Safe travels and happy days,
Jeff
