In praise of the fallow period

While out at dinner last Saturday night, I expounded a little bit on my current theory that the creative process requires excessive down time. There may have even been a little bit of table pounding (blame the wine). I'm currently in the midst of an unproductive period, so I might be a bit biased.

Truth is, I haven't done any major work since I finished Pythia Says. And I haven't done much with the Pythia project, which I know is a shame, because it's pretty good. One of the better things I've done, and no one has seen it. I feel like I found a good post-MFA confidence in my own voice and just let the project happen and take hold, without doubts or outside interference. But then I just let it accumulate dust.

And I finished it last summer. Which means we're at almost a year without writing (barring a few small things that fizzled, and instantaneity, which you should totally be following). Maybe I'm just wasting my time, but maybe I'm just wasting my time while preparing for something new. As in, the waiting is key. I don't know. And I don't know what comes next, writing-wise.

But exciting things are happening. There is bringing out Sarah Trott's book, Planned. It's the first full-length book of poetry from There, and I did the editing, book design, etc. So that's something.