Promise-ary Note: A New Fiction Piece and a New Promise

Even in the midst of finals week, I was able to pull off this week's promise.  I've been neck deep in essays, but flash fiction, much like poetry, doesn't have to have the long, enduring thought process of a novel project or one of my more typical short story length projects.  

I still had to come at the story three different times before it could be written though.  In fact, you may remember an earlier post about "writer's tools" some weeks back.  Inspiration was being being a stingy little minx this week with all the other concerns I had on my mind, so I had to turn to my writing notebook for some ideas.  A writer, or at least a writer who wants to make a lifestyle out of writing, doesn't have the luxury of waiting around for inspiration.  I can't simply sit there and while away an afternoon hoping that dirty seductress of Inspiration will strike.  Instead, I have to commit to an idea and charge ahead with the hopes that I will seduce Inspiration to follow me.

Inspiration is almost like the stereotype of the woman who loves bad boys.  She likes being chased, being sought after, being the object of the artist's desire, but if you really want a relationship with her, then you almost pay her no attention at all.  You simply march ahead with what you are doing and you'll soon find her at your elbow asking, "What are you doing?"  Or, in the midst of a juicy section, she'll suddenly appear and say, "Oooh, that's good, but what about?"  Sometimes paying no heed whatsoever to inspiration is the best way to be inspired.  It's kind of the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" method of calling down the muse.

So, I turned to my writer's notebook and found a note from years ago when my wife's coworker told us about Craigslist personals.  That was it.  That was the idea.  My prompt became, "Write a story about a guy waiting for his Craigslist personal ad hookup in a mutually anonymous location."  I was intrigued by the idea of the illicit hookup and what the mindset must be in the moments before falling into the arms of an anonymous stranger.  It's rough, but it exists on paper.  That's the hardest part for me.  Once it exists on paper, then I can play with the form, the sentences, the words, etc.  

Unlike Inspiration, Revision is a stable companion, a loving partner, and I can count on her to show up every time I sit with a page full of words.  Sometimes it is hard for me to quiet her down so I can focus, but we have a longstanding and loving relationship.

So, mission accomplished...promise fulfilled.

This week's promise is going to be a good one, and it comes just in time as I've cleared my schedule for some private time with my wife already.

While some of you may be saying, "Gross, Kyle, I don't want to know about that."  I'd like to state that intimacy is a big word and doesn't only translate to the bedroom.  There is emotional intimacy, intellectual intimacy, and physical intimacy.  They are all important, and I plan on trying to focus on all aspects of the word.  I'm excited to spend some quality time with my wife.  She's been killing it lately and I'm sure I haven't heard all she has to say about what's been going on with her.  I drew this last night, and while Tracy slept I hatched a couple of plans for this weekend.  It should be fun.