Direction!

Yesterday, I finished reading Vita Nova by Glück and started to read A Sweetness Rising by Roberta Spear. The juxtaposition of the two set off a little spark and gave me my next idea.

In an earlier post on Corn Shake, Ms. Nez spoke of having a direction (actually, I think she said DIRECTION!). I love that idea. I usually think in terms of a series or a theme—each of which seems a little more buttoned down or sewn up.

The concept of a direction seems more open and encompassing. It can broaden and include more, similar to the different angles or voices in Glück's The Wild Iris and even similar to what I was trying to accomplish in my manuscript The Body Makes a Plot.

So I'm excited! The work I'm thinking of will be related in subtext I think to the Camargue poems but more personal, more rooted in my own experience. Now I just want to let it wander, explore it, play with it the way our new kitten plays with his favorite toy. I'm just happy to have my next direction.

I think I've asked this before, but I'll risk repetition: How do you approach a new project? How do you start?