Writing was a bit of a chore for me last year. My wife was seriously ill and I wanted to spend my time with her. Thankfully, towards the end of the year she began to turn whatever corners it was she needed to turn. I would say she's 80% better, and improving day by day.
During the last 12 months, we've changed a lot in our lives. She tires easily so we don't go out as much as we used to. It's sad to see some old friends seem to think that this means we don't need friends any more. Eye opening also to see the newer of our friends making sure we know they are still there for us, calling in for a coffee or just texting to say hi.
As for that coffee, I don't drink so much these days. Moroccan mint tea is more my tipple. Add some sugar, drink from a small glass and its sweet pungent aroma plays with the nostrils, transporting the brain to many an imagined world.
The novel I had begun at the start of the year, first words arriving as I sat in the emergency room, has been through many twists and turns. The bad guy turns out to be a good guy. A character I thought would die in the opening chapter turns out to be a crucial holder of knowledge and therefore cannot die. He holds the key on which the story turns. I now know what the title means, I know how the story starts and ends - I'm one of those writers who gets the title first and then wonders "what the heck story goes with that"! The middle is still a little jumbled, I hate a story that sounds contrived because the writer wanted something to happen. If something happens in my story it has to be a) because that's what you'd expect or b) it's a twist in the story that leads you logically to somewhere else. There's nothing worse than reading something and then feeling the writer cheated on you because something improbable happened to force the story to go in a particular direction. I don't mind the ones where you have to go back a few pages, or stop to think, so long as the reaction is "ok, I can see that happening".
So right now I'm thinking. Thoughtful repose. Not rushing my characters to make their next move, letting the story unfold and tell itself. I'm still figuring the changes required because of that key character having to stay alive, and am aware there's one more twist associated with that decision. Had he died, then my main character would have a difficult choice removed from him, he would simply do nothing. But with this character still alive he has to make a choice. A moral choice. I'm really looking forward to reading how it all turns out.
