The smallest update possible

New words tonight after much too long. I started a new story. It's funny, over the last week I made three other attempts to start this thing, getting as far as two full pages before I decided that what I was writing was no good. Last night I started the same story in a new location -- Portland's The Roxy -- and suddenly the story was flowing. I don't know why these things work, but I'm glad that they do. Eventually.

1,069 words this evening. A good start. The best part is that I can see where the story is going. It has helped me a lot to ground these new stories I'm writing in Portland. It's a city I know well. And, maybe more importantly, while I like the city, I don't love it. I lived there for 18 years, in all parts of the city, and I saw both the good and the bad sides of it. I think Portland is a lot darker than most people, including those who live there, would like to think. But that may be true of most places, I suppose.

Regardless, a new story, yes. It feels good to get words on the page. Most definitely, yes.