Carrying a book to term and gaining 3 kg along the way

“The first draft of writing anything is shit” — Ernest Hemingway

“The end result of eating anything is shit” -- Me at the moment

Ovidia—Every Other Tuesday

I’m in the really final Stretch of finishing my latest Tree History Mystery and yes, 3 kg heavier than when I started. But by now I’ve come to realise it’s part of the process.

I love writing. I love the process, the picking and nitpicking, the sudden wonderful bursts of ‘that’s what I mean’ even if it means starting over with one more rewrite and the satisfaction of knowing I’ve done all I can to get the right words down in the right order to put across what I want to say.

But I also hate writing.
Especially when I’m mired in the chrysalis stage like I am now. When nothing seems to be changing on the outside but there’s agonising breaking down of a hundred caterpillar legs into sludge before they can re-form into the final book or butterfly.

There have been breaks, though.

Like Sunday night, when the Beloved Husband declared I needed (even if I didn’t deserve) a break and treated us to a ‘feast night’ out at our neighbourhood kopitiam. Also, he wanted to test his crab dissecting travel kit, so we ordered chilli crab…

The crab was Delicious and came with little fried mantous, thin crispy brown skins over moist Chinese bread that’s perfect for sopping up juices.

The crab dissecting travel kit worked perfectly, by the way. Though we didn’t need the little finger bowl because there was a sink a few steps away from our table.

(And yes, if anyone’s wondering, he also has a public restroom kit, a transit lounge shower kit, and a keeping footwear dry while viewing the Niagara Falls from boat deck kit and they all work.)

I also had the Hokkien Mee (one of my favourite dishes) and added a satay ‘set’ to make up for our wait.

And the drink stall was pushing their homemade honey lemon drink—“not from cans! Ownself make one!”—which was so good that we polished off two mugs each.

It was a fantastic feast. And yes, I came home afterwards and polished off three more chapters, but in a completely different mood. It’s amazing how a good meal can lift your spirits—and yes, it’s a completely different feeling from mindlessly swallowing junk food while sitting at the computer—because I’ve done that too, trust me.

And yet that’s part of the problem. The 3 kg I’ve put on in these three months of this final round of writing.
It’s totally understandable. I haven’t been to yoga, haven’t set foot in the gym or dipped a toe in the pool. The best I can say is I’ve kept to my daily morning and evening walks because that’s when I get to see my doggy friends.
Once this book is in, I know I’ll get back in shape.
I was thinking of taking October off writing to catch up on reading and exercising but I’ve already got a great (they’re always great until you start writing) idea for a standalone middle grade book that I really want to get down and if I could…

I know that writing a book is a marathon run, a cycling grand tour where stamina and mind set count for as much, if not more, than the idea you started out with. And yes, I enjoy even the grind as part of the process. Just as I enjoy preparing our home meals as much as the occasional feast night out.

We’re having noodles tonight; fairly healthy as you see— and I enjoy the preparation and cooking. It could be the start of the path back to losing this extra belly fat, except... the Beloved Husband just arrived home with what he calls happy writing fuel….

If anyone’s still wondering where that extra 3 kg came from… but yes I’m happy.

Heading back to the grindstone now… Wish me luck!