Writer's Block

Today I decided to do something about my potential to run out of steam. I went to the library and did some research.

I was being a smart aleck when I took the title "Meadering Flooded Stream", but I'm really growing more and more attached to that title.

I am writing about a psychiatrist who finally goes into private practice. The book will be about his patients mostly, with asides about his family. Making up patients is the fun part. I was going to have each chapter be a different patient.

My research at the library was about psychiatry. I was trying to find out how long it takes to become a psychiatrist. While I was looking for that information, I found a bunch of books (maybe 30) that all inspired me in my topic. I thought, "Each book would get me going again if I came to a lull in writing."

I made myself pare down the list to 12 books, mostly because that's all I could carry. I put the rest of them back to be re-shelved.

One of the books is the complete works of Sylvia Plath's husband, Ted Hughes. It's a huge book, and it was in the library's new book section. I recognized his name immediately, and I was very curious about his poetry. I looked for a poem about his reaction to his wife's suicide. I didn't find any.

Mostly I didn't like it. He writes free form, and it reads more like prose than poetry to me. However, I looked for poems about water, rivers, and streams to use to head my chapters. I found several good quotes. I wrote them down until I discovered it was too much to write. So I checked out the book.

Since Sylvia Plath's book, The Bell Jar, is the inspiration for my novel, I think it would be appropriate to have her husband's poetry carry the theme. The theme is a stream.

I wonder, "How much planning should I do before I start writing the novel?"