Hours and Hours Wasted!

And I don't really feel bad about it!  :-)

I was planning on doing some writing on vacation.  I was going to sit down and clack away on my cute little laptop.  I was going to be able to come back and post some paragraphs - maybe even a chapter or two.

I didn't.

Instead, I slept, indulged in family, relaxed in the sun, listened to music, and read.  It was sublime!  I had no idea that I needed that much of a break.  Work had spun me around so much over the last few months that I had no idea which end was up and how much sleep and peace I lacked.

So instead of writing diligently, I ignored the stories in my head and rested.  I spent a total of 15 minutes on my computer the entire ten days.  

I come back to this computer and this blog rested, tan, and ready to go.  I played around with some poetry last night but nothing worth posting.  I have also spent some time trying to figure out a few things about my protagonist.  Here's what I've got so far:

She's a graduate student whose having a bit of a writer's block problem while attempting to finish her dissertation.  Her study is interrupted rather fortuitously by a family tragedy and a family celebration.  She's chosen to drive across the country to see family and sort a few things out.  She hopes this will jump start her research and help her find her path.  She's also hoping, though not out loud, that this trip will help her come to terms with her "quiet crazy" family.

I know she has a friend named Jane who is in her field of study though much closer to completing her work than the protagonist.  I know she stays in contact with friends and family via text, phone, and social networking (not unlike myself.)  In fact, I'm having a hard time sorting out how she is not like me and how she is like me.  I'm writing what I know and I'm trying to get down on paper some of the awesome turns of phrase that have come up in conversations with my friends without making this a rather odd story weaving together marathon conversations and the like.

It is a complicated affair to give birth to a character who is separate from myself while sharing all of my life experiences and all of her own.  I love complicated affairs!  ;-)