The Doldrums

Confession: I'm so used to people thinking of me as "the smart guy," I'm not comfortable in any other role. No matter how lonely.

Reading:

• Someplace to be Flying, by Charles de Lint

Writing:

• "Ferian Fetlock Cures a Horse"

Revising:

• "Dolly Hobbles"

Right now I lack motivation. I've hit that place in my writing where I simply don't feel inspired to move forward. It's the doldrums.

I love the historical meaning of that word. It's an area of the ocean around the equator where wind can be almost non-existent, and therefore boats could easily become stalled for weeks at a time. It's stagnation, a slump and it's hard to shake myself from.

So what I need is a wind from outside to come and rustle my feathers a bit. I wish I knew how to find that.