The Tenth Level Of Hell

Or maybe it's supposed to be the Tenth Circle of Hell. I forget. Been a long time since I read Dante.

I don't put much store in horoscopes, but I found this writer horoscope on another blog this morning and read it for entertainment value only. The part that got me (I'm Scorpio) was this:

On the 6th, Mars enters fellow water sign Pisces, and begins its month-long transit through your fifth house of creativity. This transit triggers all kinds of activity concerning your creative endeavors. You may be working longer hours to complete a book, gain insights into plot structure and characters, or land a new project. This period will be your strongest time for writing. Your challenge will be to stay focused because there will be plenty of distractions.

Okay, yeah, if you read all the horoscopes, they say about the same thing - different days that are productive and optimum writing times - but guess what today is? Yup. The 6th. And guess where my head is? Oh yeah, so in the WIP it's ridiculous. And all the sudden, too. For the past week, I've been stalled. Last weekend I wrote like a fiend - a scene between my hero and (one of) my villain(s). After I ended this long, emotional, drawn out scene (hero reluctantly meets with the man who was convicted of killing his child) I couldn't go on. I'd written myself into a corner and I didn't know how to get out of it. I've spent this crazy week trying to figure out where I went wrong. And last night - at Gremlin #2's baseball practice, as I was standing in the sun watching, I realized my problem. Motivation. I hadn't clearly defined my villain's motivation for agreeing to this discussion. What does he want? What is he getting out of it? The man's in prison. Why did he agree to this meeting? And then, bam, it hit me. And it makes perfect sense. Of course, to be able to go on, I have to go back and add in a few critical scenes early on (this is why I HAVE to write in order and why I HAVE to go back and fix known errors before I can move forward - because without these critical scenes, nothing else in the book makes sense.) Did I get a chance to last night? No. Life was too busy and chaotic. My plan is (was) to do that today.

So what does all of this have to do with Dante and the Tenth Level of Hell? Oh...you are going to be so sorry you asked (or wondered).

Let me give you a glimpse of the Tenth Level. Gremlin #2 wakes up last night at 12:30 am because he can't sleep. No, he doesn't wake up, he wakes up SCREAMING. The only way to keep him quiet so he doesn't wake up everyone else in the house is to let him sleep in our bed. Correction...he sleeps on MY side of the bed. Practically on top of me. Hence, I do not sleep.

Upon waking, Gremlin #2 then begins to scream about a cut on his chin. Which the band-aid is not healing. And a cut on his lip. Which hurts so bad he's obviously dying a slow and painful death. We're talking major trauma here. My offering to cut his face off to solve the problem only causes more screaming. The DH looks at me and asks where my motherly instincts have gone. Straight faced, I reply, "I'm pretty sure I don't have any."

Gremlin #1 gets dressed for school and when told her shorts are too short (because, after all, it's summer and one sunny day means everyone and their dog has to wear shorts) goes into a screaming fit about school rules and how stupid they are and how on earth would her mother know the rules in the first place? It's a conspiracy to make her life a living hell (welcome to my world, daughter).

Gremlin #3 is the only happy one in the group. Happy for him includes running around with his Batman mask and cape and growling at the top of his lungs. Which, of course, makes Gremlin #1 scream louder, and Gremlin #2 cry even more.

And the whole time this happening, the DH is complaining because he's supposed to be on a conference call in his office, yet the noise level in the house is so high it's causing him to want to break open the Crown Royal at 8AM and drink himself into oblivion. (Wait! That's my line!)

And doesn't it all just figure that the stars and moons have aligned on THIS day to wreak havoc on my life and turn my children into the scariest looking-and-acting Gremlins when all I want to do is sit and work out this problem in the WIP that I have so suddenly discovered a solution for?

*sigh*

Tenth Level of Hell. I tell you.

Sadder still is I forsee no writing this weekend. We're headed to the beach with my extended family. While I'm looking forward to it, all I want to do is write, which I will not be able to do.

A wise woman said to me the other day something along the lines of: Without the chaos of your family you'd have nothing to write for. She is, of course, right. And it burns my ass she's right so often (you know who you are). I love the family dearly and ultimately write for and because of them, I just haven't quite figured out how to juggle it all. It's something I struggle with every day. I don't know how full-time working mothers are able to write. I'm in awe of them.

For those of you who complain about being distracted in your lives -be it from work or chores or the dog that won't leave you alone, remember my Tenth Level of Hell. If you think you're distracted, I will gladly send you my Three Gremlins for a day so you can experience real distraction.