“Once more into the breach, dear friends.”
I doubt Shakespeare’s King Henry V was so well armed. To fight my way through the writerly Slough of Despond, I have been sent both a detailed map, which is a Dowler dungeon original, and a magical jeweled sword, potentially once used by very large Valkyrie. (Look, it’s a magical sword. It shrinks at need.)
I am now ready to finish my novel.
I will stop worrying that I was told my next book had to have a certain “weight” to follow Mare’s War,
I will stop panicking that the storyline is really “not me.”
I will stop worrying that it’s not good enough.
I will just… sing.
Classic Sesame Street, 1971 (which was apparently the first season.)
A SHOUT OUT to the Dowler Duo, Farida & Tony. Mille grazie.
Huh. Ironically, it's the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street today! So, I guess their first season was 1968. But — I do love this map, thank you, Mr. Dowler!
*And yes, Jules, I have to admit that Bob was not my favorite either — his voice was too nasal. Like Big Bird's.
(I know. I was a strange child.)
This song has literally been in my head for the last two days, and it's doing me some good.
Onward!
Yes, sing! Courage. Wow, that's a nice photo. And what a map. Geez.
Okay, everyone, I admit it. My husband drew that map. I'm going to forward this post to him.
I mean, if you've gotta go through despondant sloughs, might as well have awesome maps, swords and songs to work your way out with, huh?
Humming with you….
Love the map and sword.
So glad you're ready to continue. Happy singing and writing.
Paz
"Don't worry that it's not good enough…" is very good advice!
One of my WIPs feels rather daunting, and I've adopted a quote to keep me from freaking out and abandoning it: "To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong." (Joseph Chilton Pearce) Seems to me that fear of "being wrong" is closely tied to fear of not being "good enough". In both cases, we've gotta just KEEP SINGING. Er, I mean, writing. 😉
Yay! A map and a sword! Onward and upward!
*sends large stash of obscenely expensive French chocolate*
Oh, look at their hair-dos and bell bottoms! Look how YOUNG they are. Bob is supposed to be nice but always kinda creeped me out…(Sorry, I've seen too episodes as a mama to not form strong opinions about them all. Alan? The newest guy? He ROCKS. He's so nice that I just want to hang out with him.)
Anyway, you keep on keepin' on, Tanita. What is this "not me" business? You blaze your own path. Hang in there, as trite as that sounds.
"Slough of Despond" — heh.
I'm so not jealous of your writer's block—which really ought to be called writer's panic, by the way—but that map! With the sword! How utterly cool. Whenever I get stuck in the stink, I'm coming back here to gaze upon this magic.