Springtime Signs of Renewal

It's a springlike morning again today. It was a wee bit chilly as I went out to my car but at least today, the condensation wasn't frozen as it was yesterday. It's been getting up into the 70's over the past couple of days. I went walking over lunch and it seems to be a fact that Spring has arrived early. While I'll miss my hot-chocolatey, snow-covered days, I like the fact that I can open my patio doors and let the breeze come in to freshen up my living room. The grass is almost completely green again. It's such a contrast to a few weeks ago.

And, of course, it helps that I'm in a fantastic mood. I'm actually flooded with a ideas for new stuff to write at the moment which is something that hasn't happened in a while. I have a new novel teasing me in the back of my mind. I'm trying to decide if I want to make it the story of one of the anti-heroes, Gaz, from my latest novel Sleep (concidentally, the one that's a quarterfinalist in the ABNA contest and, seriously, I would love your reviews if you have time). It's a story that would work great for this character; it actually is eerily fitting him but to write it would mean that I'd have to redefine our world a little for him; do I make it a world where the impossible is real or do I let him live in a normal world and create that world for a completely new character? It's a good question and I've asked him to help me figure it out and while sometimes he doesn't stop babbling in my head, it's never when I want him to talk. He's always a little contrary, that one. He's fiercely loyal to the people he cares about and hates everyone else. He cares about maybe 3 people in the world. If I hadn't already written about literary schitzophrenia, I'm sure that would sound a little batty. However, I can't help it. It just happens.

I always get a little giddy around the start of Spring; it's always been my most fruitful writing time. When I look back, I think, honestly, most of my novels have started in late winter/early spring and been finished in the autumn. I never thought about it before but usually I'm at the rereading/editing stage when Daylight Savings Time ends.

Which means, being that it's spring, it's right to look at starting something new. It is, after all, a time of renewal of life, hope and nature and, for those of us who do so, writing. This weekend, I plan on cleaning thorougly; the problem with the new, longer days and brighter sunshine is that dust and smudges are a little more visible and you realize that there's probably a reason people do actually spring clean.

I love the change in seasons; everything always seems so fresh even though sometimes the transition is so subtle. The grass has slowly greened up and is now starting to show it's spring colours; thes snowdrops are already blooming, the daffodils, hyancinths and crocuses have pushed up and are getting ready to introduce us to the new season. For my part, I feel as though the writer part of me that has been hibernating, been hiding from starting something new, is ready to start again. I think maybe I need those darker periods in my life to let my writing lie dormant for a while, to allow myself to recharge. If I could just learn to accept that there are ebbs and flows of writing without trying to push myself all the time, I think it would be easier. I think part of me is afraid that, like with exercise, if I stop, I won't start up again. But I don't think that's likely. Exercise is a necessary evil if I want to feel better about myself; writing is just necessary in order for me to be...me.

I'm looking forward to starting something new, to writing with the breeze blowing into my room, the smell of the springtime in the air. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Happy Wednesday.