Writing can occur while you’re cleaning the bathroom.

Well, not the actual writing part, but you know what I mean…

I’ve found that throughout many of my novels and short stories, a good housecleaning session can often spark the brainstorm I need to figure out what to do when I’m stuck. (Dusting is probably responsible for the deaths of far too many of my characters…) I think the mundane task of wiping down bathroom walls with foul smelling chemicals stimulates the the brain and helps release ideas.

So this morning, I spent a few hours cleaning, and came up with some background information on my villain and villainess. (Yes, it has a lot to do with the Russian monarchy, but now I know how to tie it all together.)

But I’ve still found as I’ve tried to write this first part of the novella, that I’ve been missing that “aha” moment when I can figure out the glue that binds the story together. I know that’s partially why I’ve been struggling.

I guess a clean shower has to do with “aha” moments because let me tell you, the moment I took my shower, it all came together. I know what my main villainess is trying to do, and I’ve got more than the first part of the story outlined out. (In quite sloppy chicken scratch that might resemble letters of you stare at it for five minutes, but it’s written down.) Now I’m going to be itching to wake up tomorrow morning and get it all written out before I don’t remember it any more.

To sum it up: it was a great day, and I even got two clean showers out of it…

Oh, and I might as well leave you with this question: what if Tsarina Alexandra Romanov never actually died? (I’ve already figured out how to write around the 2007 DNA samples…)

Toodles!