Day 12: Finding the Gate of Dreams

In the beginning there was the night, and from the dark was born the light.

After writing 1687 words today, even though I was about to completely crash and burn at 6pm, I am happy I persevered. The last few days have been a bit of a brain-fart really, and it took a lot of work to get the momentum and the motivation to write. Today it seemed like it was ready to all flow. I can only liken it to the feel of breaking a habit or addiction: the first day or week you feel on top of the world, and then the world gets tough and you start thinking of how easy it is just to throw your hands up in the air and forget you ever had the crazy notion of breaking the addiction. And then, if you don't throw in the towel (or you throw it in a little and then take it back just as quickly), you realise there is something beautiful coming up on the horizon. It's not a mirage. The end is in sight. Granted, the end is about 2.5 weeks away, but it's still there.

My characters are moving along well. Mira and Faith are working hard at finding out how to get through the Gate of Dreams to save two different people: one they know and the other is the guy who i keep forgetting to feed. They are yet to meet their nemesis face to face so they don't know how dangerous this dreamwalking can be. I will probably move the rest of the book into new realms now, because the foundation for the real world and the technical ideas are all set up. It just means I can give my imagination some creative freedom for a bit.

And now, I'm going to have some much needed rest. Goodnight!! xx

Day 7: Total word count for first week - 12,435

Today I've surprised even me. I looked at the word count total for the week, and I've hit 12,435. That is a new record! I'm right on track to finishing 50,000 words. Now, just to keep the motivation up for 3 more weeks :)

A new twist in the novel - there are just so many things popping up out of the blue - is the concept of death, healing and rebirth, and how that fits in with dreaming. Originally I had this guy stuck in a cave with some old lady, and suddenly the old lady decided to reveal that it was really a tomb. Then a whole discussion on death and rebirth came up. I kept having images in my head of the West Kennett Long Barrow, and what I would imagine would happen if someone walked through the red 'Otherworld' door (it's a red stone, as opposed to the blue and gray stone everywhere else). I had visited the long barrow while I was at Avebury, UK, and it's definitely an experience.

The thing about the long barrow is that archaeologists believe it was a tomb, and that the red door led to the underworld. When I walked around in there, I didn't get a sense of that. It felt like a healing area. The death aspect seemed to be more around the idea that it was a waiting area, a preparation place. However there was definitely a healing feel, much like the idea of a hospital where patients come to be healed and sometimes they do die.

I guess that death, true healing and dreams are all intertwined. They all exist on a different frequency or level of understanding. Healing is not just what cures we come up with, but what we believe and feel. Death is just a transition. The realm of dreams is a place where we can create and experience anything, a place that holds death and healing in its black nothingness while they wait to become.