What’s that funny slogan? “When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping!”

Well, we’ve all had those periods when we bang up against the same problem, over and over again. I’m working on a plot in “Mandate”, for instance, that involves a president who is up to some evil intent for the nation. I know from my own military experiences and from watching politicians, that those at the top can easily keep their fingerprints from showing on any directives, if they so choose. My challenge will be to engineer a way for my detective character to connect, in a believable way, what he has discovered about a murdered US Senator, with the Oval Office.

My solution? Go kayaking!

From the time I was in high school, I have found that solutions come when I least expect them; often when I’m working on something entirely unrelated to the problem at hand. I don’t know for certain, but I think that what is happening is that the issue gets pushed to the sub-conscious level. The brain is still working on it, but we aren’t actively aware of it. Then, when we least expect it, the solution pops out.

A word of warning, however: The solution may not appear in a day, or even overnight. The legend is that sixteen years went by between the first draft of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and the published version. So, be prepared for a possible lag between committing your idea to your subconscious and receiving the answer you are looking for. The best solution I’ve found to speed up this process, is to read and provide the mind with plenty of background material…and rest…and that means resting the mind by having it work on something other than the problem you wish to solve. That way, while it’s working, it will have plenty of nourishing ideas…and time…from your conscious world.

Good luck. If you do decide to go fishing, I hope your “catch” is great.

Write on!

JR

www.jackriston.com

www.forallthemarbles.net