Retracing Your Steps

I really envy those writers who can plan their work, then work their plans, writing their manuscript from start to finish without any missteps, or even the incursion of character insights and more effective plot ideas, because they got it so perfect from the start.

I also hate them sometimes, especially when I'll on a deadline and am forced, like this poor schlep who spent four days dragging his broken-legged self back over his footprints to escape the Utah desert, to retrace my steps to figure out where I went wrong. Like the hiker, who was inspired to visit Little Blue John Canyon by the film 127 Hours, yet didn't clap onto the most important lesson (NEVER go out hiking solo without telling someone your plans!)

I can't help blaming myself. But the truth is, this painstaking crawl, with all its self-doubt and backtracking, has always been my modus operandi.

So, pain and all, I might as well just grit my teeth and try to enjoy the scenery. I just hope it doesn't take me 127 Hours.