After pumping out my article for this Sunday's Dallas Morning News metro section I have writer's hangover. No alcohol was consumed, but my brain seems to have cotton in it today. Still, I rewrote my synopsis and blinked at chapter six  a bit. Guess I'll just have to light a fire under myself to get going.

Being four chapters into the writing of my book feels incredibly good. Even though the voice of my main character is perhaps a little too sophisticated for her age, I am encouraged because I can see the big picture of the story and know exactly where I want to go with it.

Now I truly understand what my writng instructor was speaking of when she said the writing of one's first book is a learning experience. Getting through the complete process from beginning to end is the true test of one's passion for the project.

Kind of like when I would make several batches of wonderfully shaped sugar cookies and then realize that it'd take me many hours to get them all completely frosted and decorated to my liking. The story is completely finished in my head just have to do that tiny little task of writing it.

Delving into writing the third chapter of my book and although this is lonely task the camaraderie of my writing critique group buddies and the comments from these blogs keeps me putting one hoof in front of the other.

Words are also starting to flow and format is falling into place. At this rate I'll have a book in six months or less!

The first pages of my novel are written. Tonight I will write the next scene. So intense! It feels a little bit like when you have a huge bridge that opens up every now and then to allow a huge boat to pass.

Every time I write another scene to my novel I feel like another big boat has passed by on the river. Doing things for creative inspiration like watching a movie, going to a play, playing the piano, painting a watercolor or just having coffee with a girlfriend are like the lifting of the bridge to let another bit of creativity float out.

This afternoon I watched "Bridges over Madison County" and felt moved by the beautiful design of the story. What the writer did to me in the course of the movie was magical. That's what I hope to do with my words.

It feels almost like cheating because my plot is coming directly from journal entries, yet the poetic license I allow myself is SO MUCH FUN.

In the bibical story Adam and Eve suddenly realized they were naked once they sinned. But the real kicker is that they were naked all along and after a bite of an apple "thought" they were something different.

Guess in my memoir/creative non-fiction writing I agree to be naked in front of the world and, hopefully, by doing that realize just who I really am. That in and of itself is not the goal for writing the book for me personally. My goal is to help the potential "me's" in the world not make the same mistakes as I did or at least know they aren't alone in making those mistakes.

I'm still sruggling with the novel, how to start it, what section of my life to write about, how much to include, how much to leave out.