I’m hoping to finish my taxes this week. Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. Every year for the past ten years I’ve tried to streamline my process and every year it gets easier—by the inch, not the mile.
I’m a creative type, I admit it. I think in words, not numbers. (Hence, I have a very number minded accountant.) Math to me was like learning Greek or Latin—or quantum physics. Odd, but although I could never show the process by which I got an answer in math class, I always got the answer correct. Math teaches don’t like that very much! They want proof that I know how I got there.
This slightly scrambled process is how my mind works and it’s what helps me write stories. I come at things from many angles at once. Add a little here, subtract a little there, divide with conflict, and multiply characters and issues. If the total isn’t quite like I wanted it, I go back into the story and add a little more conflict, subtract a minor character, multiply the romance (or mystery, or whatever) and divide and conquer whatever issues I’m having with the story. I never leave the story until I’ve got the correct balance—but I can never quite explain how I got there!
Judy Baer