Before I read Steven Johnson's Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation, I considered my slowness to move forward with any project was a flaw of my contemplative nature. The family joke is that I get everything done - eventually. Now I realize a turtle's pace is not a bad thing and many of the greatest inventions did not come about from a light bulb over the head but a hunch that comes in and out of one's mind over time. I have been creating a middle grade character for the past few years, writing vignettes about this person in search of a plot for her life between the covers of a book. For a while I felt like I was going no where fast. This past week the churning of this little person, her flaws and her idiosyncrocies have turned into a plan, a plot for a real story. I am finally ready to hold my nose and dive deep into the pool of overwriting chapters, tackling the heartache of a murky middle and the victory of a last sentence. Stay tuned.