God is in the details

The saying “the devil is in the details” has never resonated with me.  I know it means you have to pay attention and that’s tough, but I’ve always found the details to be the things that really speak of some sacred care of whatever we’re doing.  I get obsessive about them.  Exhaustingly, consumingly, exhilaratingly obsessive. 

I’m in tech for Pride and Prejudice.  Immersing myself in a piece is the only way I know how to stay obsessed with the details.  Late nights, tons of notes for desginers and actors. Constant vigilance.

And along with all this – comes the desire to write.  Characters are still spinning through my day, looking for spare minutes to grab my attention.  I can’t indulge them this week.  I always feel like they’ll fall out of love with me and refuse to grow after I’m done with a current obsession.  There’s still a lot of cross-over between the three books I’m working on.  Some days I really wish I could revise my first draft.  Some days I want to do research on another novel and some days I just want to get a few scenes written.  But they are all on hold.  I’m great with deadlines.  But I don’t have any for writing right now.  My next step after the dust clears is to come up with a routine, or plan for writing time without a deadline. 

So – as I was revising this post, a student came up and introduced themselves as the lighting designer for my new play.  “I’m on Buffalo,” he said grinning from ear to ear.  “I know you’re really busy but I can’t wait to read the script.”  The play goes up in March.  And BAM, a deadline was set – for something that wasn’t even on my radar right now. I had to get a cut script to this designer!  And now I’m chomping at the bit to get to those pages.   

Referencing my first blog, I can’t wait til I retire.  I will have a lot more time.  Managing it – motivating it before I have a deadline, that’s the mission.