Evening thoughts

I don’t know about you, but when I sleep I solve all of my problems and think of a few more that didn’t hold my interest in the day time.  All I need is to pull up the covers and close my eyes.  Sleep comes quickly, but uneasily.

I begin by thinking about the day just ended.  That done, I often slip and remember something in my past that didn’t go right.  Even though the incident is in the ancient past, I take it out and examine the incident, testing out theories of what I should have done, who was responsible for what, etc., etc.  It’s a total waste of time.  It’s much too late to do anything about it, but lay it to rest.

So, tonight when I turn out my light and my head hits the pillow, I’m going to make myself a dream.  A nice dream about something that never happened.  I’m not going to leave room to think of old mistakes and old hurts.  I’m going to have a new dream.

After all, what good is it to be a writer if you can’t do a little writing in your dreams?

And then there’s Maxie.  I have to be careful about writing a dream so I don’t start wondering what she’s up to this time.  Maxie is a character in a book I’m writing and she’s a bit independent about what she does and the trouble she gets into.

I really don’t want to dream about writing about Maxie.  Really I don’t.

Marilynne