I haven’t written much the past few weeks. I’ve been pulled a lot of different directions and very, very tired. When I get this way, my mind has a hard time locking down on specific thoughts or ideas. I’ve been at a loss for what to say in this blog space. I’ve been at loss for what to say on the pages I show no one.

And then, tonight I sit, find a song that hits a particular, specific mood, loop that song on continuous play and start typing.

This, it turns out, is my favorite way to write. I often start with a mood, a song that amplifies that mood and one single, starting sentence. Then I start typing. Sometimes, worthwhile things happen.

I feel conflicted about sharing that writing here. Much of this work is basically flash fiction, a quick sketch of story that telegraphs more than it tells. Its pretty much all I feel like doing lately. Fragments. Feints. The intentionally unfinished detritus of a crowded mind.

But that’s not what this blog is supposed to be about. I had wanted this blog to be a place for clarity. Things learned and understood.

I may set up a special place here to park this stuff. Just to get it out there. I might start an entirely different place to push this stuff so it doesn’t jumble up the Ubiquitous. Quotidian. conversation.

Not sure what I’ll do. Either way, the short, quick work is healthful. Like sweeping sticks out of a gutter. Or pulling the long, wretched hairs out of bathtub drain. Sometimes weird. Often unpleasant, fascinatingly so. But they make the words move easier. They help what comes next.

And so, perhaps flash fiction is like house keeping. No one wants to watch you dust your shelves and fluff your pillows but they can always tell when you haven’t been doing it.

BTW, tonight’s song: “Make Them Wonder” by Lily Holbrook. Tonight’s opening line: “She isn’t a witch, though she is desperate to become one.” Just in case you are wondering.