A tempting proposal

I've been doing research on Leonardo da Vinci. (Don't ask.*) Leonardo was brilliant in so many capacities--everyone agrees on that. (Except Michaelangelo, and that was mostly sour grapes. I think. I know there was a dueling murals contest going on at one point, but I haven't researched that much, yet. I just liked the idea of it. Two Renaissance men furiously trying to outpaint the other, both of them amazing; I can picture them trash talking at each other. My mural's better than your mural...Your apprentice is a weenie....Good beard, LeoNERDo, etc. )

Leonard's mural, The Battle of Anghiari, was never finished, reputedly because of technical difficulties. (See a larger version of the mural--but not a life-sized reproduction of it, unless you have a really big monitor--at : http://www.kfki.hu/~/arthp/html/l/leonardo/06anghia/index.html )

No one was surprised Leonardo didn't finish the mural, (especially not Michaelangelo), because everyone agreed: Leonardo never finished anything. He was so full of ideas, he'd start a project, then start another, and another...and never get back to the first project.

Okay. Show of hands. Who is like Leonardo?

One of the hardest things for me, as a writer, is finishing what I started. I begin, with confidence and even a little awe (this idea is so cool!) and then...begin to get a little bored. What was fun becomes work. I hit a snag, I falter, I stop.

And those pesky ideas keep coming. So much more interesting. So...snag-free. (Or, free of technical difficulties. Leonardo could relate.)

I used to feel bad about this. I think many of us do. We worry about middle muddles and BIAW's and so on, writing through the bad, yelling at ourselves to Finish the DAMN BOOK! (Oh. You can put your hands down, now. Sorry.)

Anyhow, I've decided to give myself permission--since I'm not published, not on deadline, not writing for any reason other than the fact that I cannot not write--to not finish. At least, for a few months. It's nearly summer, the kids will be out of school soon. The baby is going to start getting those teeth. I think I'll do my research on Leonardo (in different colors of ink!) and just enjoy the process of not finishing. I invite you to do the same. At least for a few months. (I can hear some of you hissing your breath through your teeth and chanting, "Get thee behind me, you devil" as you hold up index-finger crosses to your monitors. Hey, I'm sorry. I may be tempting you, but at least this particular temptation is calorie-free.)

What would you do with time spent not finishing your book? Spend some time with your kids? Your spouse? Other family members? Your friends? Your pets?

Go to the beach. Go for a walk. Go. Just--go. Enjoy. Soak up the world. Feel alive--really alive--not tied to the characters in your head, but to the people in your world.

Study. Study people. Study your favorite authors--figure out how they do what they do that makes them your favorite. Study The Bible. Study yourself. Study...Leonardo da Vinci. And most of all, enjoy it.

*Incidentally, the reason I say "don't ask" why I'm researching da Vinci--because pretty soon I'll be starting to write another book, something completely different from my usual style, and I'd rather not discuss it until I've finished it.