Looking back on my political-themed posts over the last few months, I see something emerging: we need a plan. It's not enough to complain about what's not happening, nor blame the people in power. We have to have a plan.
I've also been schooled lately in looking; we tend not to find things until we look for them. I even hinted at that way back when I wrote Waffes and Tequila, but I didn't really understand it until recently.
Yesterday, I went to pick 11yo up from her afterschool care. Her mentor and I shared a glass of wine as we often do. We talked about plans for the future. I talked about becoming a writer, supporting my family from writing. Then she asked a question that stumped me silly.
"What will that look like?" She didn't mean it in a very practical sense, contracts, agents, publishing deals and all. She meant what will my day look like, what will my life look like? What will I do when I get up? what hours will I keep, what kind of house will I live in, where will I live, what will I drive, vacations, teaching, will I write at home, in a coffee shop, in an office? Will there be part of my day devoted to not writing, to exercise, to reading, to art, movies, 11yo's homework, anything else? A relationship, friends, exercise, this blog I seem to like, going dancing, drinking beer and acting stupid...
I realized I only had vague concepts. That's not a plan. That's not good writing. Writing is all about the details - not each and every possible detail, just the ones necessary to convey the story. I have some writing to do.