I was going to write you a post that went something like this:

What it feels like writing a new novel:

And below that text would be an endless looping animated gif of James Sunderland from Silent Hill 2 rowing his rowboat into a foggy nothingness (see Figure A).

But the internet has disappointed me yet again. There is no endless looping gif of James Sunderland rowing on Toluca Lake.

There are only screenshots, none of which convey the sensation of typing hundreds of words every day, writing scenes as they show up, not knowing where they’ll lead, because you have no plan.

You never have a plan.

All you have is dogged faith that some day, if you keep typing into the fog, the shoreline will appear, and you will wind up there, and you will be finished.