Transmissions from Vlentary – 15 – 28 August – Lockdown: The case of the missing Muse

August So Far

I had high hopes for August… I really did.

After July pulled off a vanishing act for the ages, I was determined to make some progress on my August plans.

• My office was all set up and the space felt comfortable
• I finally replaced my keyboard
• cleared out my fifteen copies of identical story notes … (No I don’t know why I had so many copies, but I have found upwards of 20 copies of Writing Craft notes before so seems par for the course)
• Planned how and when I was actually heading down to our holiday home for my writing getaway & started to pack my writing box

Which, of course, is when the Universe decided to throw me a curveball and plunge New Zealand into Level 4 lockdown.  For the first time in a year, we were confined to our homes as the Delta variant snuck in through our border control and made its presence known.

From midnight on 18 August, all my carefully crafted plans went sailing out the window … and yes, I did consider running away to the bach anyway, but couldn’t bring myself to leave my husband home alone with 2 kittens and our 12-year-old son.

My muse, on the other hand, had no such qualms and moved out of my head without a sound … so much so I didn’t realise until I sat down on the first Friday night and opened up my Manuscript … only to be presented with.

no amount of wrangling, cajoling or pleading could convenience her to come back, so instead of stressing myself out further with trying to write while also dealing with the now lack of work, homeschooling my son and dealing with the fact that both my husband and child are not quiet … and I can’t get rid of them for a few hours peace and quiet, I decided to put my writing on hold and hope that my Muse wanders back sometime soon.

As it is, I don’t know how long we will be in lockdown.  Most of the country seems to be coming out of lockdown this Tuesday, unfortunately, I live in Auckland which currently has the largest outbreak.  I could be stuck at home for the next two to four weeks.  I’m hoping it won’t be too much longer, being an Introvert stuck at home with an extrovert and an ambivert is going to seriously test my patience and my supply of duct tape.

Revised August Plans

So for the last two days of August… I am planning on taking it easy.  I have reorganised my TBR pile – all 499 books …, still plodding through a writing course and checking out some blog posts by KM Weiland on Archetypes and Plot Points, beating my Husband and Child at 500 … which is currently being played until 5000 points, with the option to increase it to 10,000 depending on how long we are in lockdown for.

September Plans

I’ve had stirrings of ideas over the last couple of days, fingers crossed it is my Muse coming back and not this particular Plot Bunny …

(Conversation shared with permission … Names redacted to protect the not so innocent)

My Writing Goal has been set to 25,000 words this month on DG&OWIS, and working on the Outline of both my Zombie Story and potentially the Dancer Series, but, I’m also not going to beat myself up if I don’t reach the goals.  This lockdown has hit me harder than the previous ones and I need to take care of me. If that means sitting at home, making a dent in my TBR pile… so be it 🙂

So, that’s all I’ve got for now.  Take Care, Stay Safe and Be Kind, no matter where you are.  We’ve got this New Zealand.

And remember