We're getting a new roof put on.  Not only that, our old roof leaked, so there's some damage that needs to be repaired in the house itself.  This means I currently have two work crews at my house.  At the moment, the sounds are: pounding, the screech of a wood truss being ripped from the base, a saw grinding, the workers yelling to each other.

And here I am, writing in the middle of it.  

In some strange way it energizes me, though its also a terrible distraction, especially when the head roofer pulls me aside to regretfully inform me they have to replace more of the back than they thought (ie, we need to spend more money).

But it has also caused me to think about being in the middle. 

I'm in the middle of so many things in my life: the finishing touches on my novel, working on a logo and website, putting together a workshop that will be an ebook and perhaps more, getting my newsletter back up.  Being in the middle like this, it is sometimes difficult to see my way toward the end.  This in turn makes me feel like I'm not doing anything.

When you are in process, its hard to see the product.  

But most of the time, writing is about being in the middle.  Its about putting one word done on the page or the screen after another, and then another and another.  A novel gets written one word at a time, just as life gets lived one moment at a time.  All we really have is write now, the current word.  Why is that so difficult to remember?

I'm writing this post to remind myself:

I'm not lazy.

I'm making progress on all counts.

I'm not at the beginning of things.

I'm not yet at the end.

I'm in the middle.  Plain and simple.