Subdued Intrinsic

As you can probably tell by the title, when it comes to plotting, I am what's known as a 'pantser'. Taken from the phrase, "flying by the seat of my pants," pantsers generally don't plan their stories in a linear manner. We struggle to summarize properly, and you're likely to see from us more of a bubbled web chart (like an investigation wall), than a nice, organized outline. Outlines hurt our brains, and likely our dry-erase boards.

This isn't to say we don't organize in our own way, but it's a bit more like trying to find a place to sign your name in someone's yearbook. Is there a blank space? Yes. okay, sign there. Does your comment having any reference to another signature, but there's no space next to that one? Sign your name elsewhere, and then draw a long, winding arrow between the two, for direction. It's a causality kind of thing. You link together like items as best you can, when you see the link in your head, but you have to record it on paper.

As you may or may not know, I have bouts of extreme depression and anxiety. Many authors do, I think. I'm not implying that you have to have a mental illness to be a writer (though there are The Jokes), but I do personally believe there might be a correlation between creatively-brained people and mental illness.

At any rate, I've got it, a mental illness issue.Those come with medication issues. You know how people are always talking about, "getting the right meds cocktail,? That's a real thing, a concerning thing, and it's a toughie. Mine has been, and it's not even fully fixed, yet.

As an author, this means I usually feel one of four things, depending on the effects/side effects of my current meds regime.

1. Apathy. Everything is boring, and nothing really matters. I am the trail-off of a really good Queen song. I feel pretty much nothing. No creative spark, no joy, but no other emotions, either. It's like I know what I should feel in situations, but I have a very fluffy blanket wrapped tightly around those emotions, and that results in nada.
2. Rage. Oh the rage. I break and throw things. I scream my throat raw. I hate my husband, or at least I think I do. (This one, thankfully, is pretty well under control right now). I might be able to right, but I'm too busy being furious and petty.
3. Sadness. Not a little--a lot. I'm beyond my dog dying, and I hate myself, because I am so damned broken, and my poor, amazing family has to deal with the screw-up me. What choice do they have? I once convinced myself I was such an awful person that a hurricane was my fault. I cry a lot, and I feel like I should be punished.
4. Fear. This has been the hardest one, maybe. Maybe it's tied with Sadness. Anyway, fear paralyzes you, because what if any of the bad things happen? What if ALL the bad things happen? What if you aren't good enough, and you're just delusional? You can make SO MANY excuses for yourself that really all come down to being afraid.

In the past, I typically typed my drafts, not bothering with longhand, but I suspect I need to do away with the typical this time, because of my fear of stepping back into the world of writing and attempted publication.

On the very same day--the same hour, the very same moment, the elder princess of the kingdom of Estellei ceased to exist, the life of the a princess began. While one began her journey blinking ever more slowly into sleep, the other ended hers with her left fist dug into her abdomen and the right crammed into her small mouth lest she be unable to stifle her screams of pain.

From then on, all the people of Estellei, from the most humble peasant, to the king and queen, mourned their most beloved of the royal family, the elder princess.

For the next twelve years, the child grew, all but forgotten . . . except on the rare occasion someone would catch a glimpse of her, sparking some memory that slipped away almost immediately, to be replaced with the remembrance of some chore or errand needing immediate attention, That small notice, though, left in the passerby an inexplicable wave of revulsion, a metallic, coppery taste in their mouths.

This phenomenon held true for everyone; all but tiny Kiwi frog named Frute, who quite liked to the princess's cheek before it nestled down in the slight hollow of her neck, just before the start of her shoulder . . .