Another Villa Diodati writer’s workshop is behind me, this time in the gorgeous villa Riveloup in Le Bar sur Loup, near Nice, France. And like the previous time, I am left with a sense of melancholia, humility, gratefulness at the proximity of so many wonderful writing minds, and determination to get a firm grip on my writing, in terms of actually producing words on a regular basis.

Nothing much came of that determination last time. That realization prompted a long and fruitful Nice-to-Amsterdam telephone conversation with my wonderful wife. After some whining and self-pity on my part, she made the obvious and sensible suggestion: the reason why nothing had come of it might just be because I hadn’t actually arranged my life to make room for writing.

The simplest suggestions are often the most valuable epiphanies.

So immediately after hanging up, I got out my PDA and scheduled two hours of writing time on Wednesdays and Sundays, effective immediately. Following Ben’s advice to write away from home and its distractions, I entered the nearest Bagels & Beans in the Location field. Having good coffee, fresh juices, and delicious bagels available probably won’t hurt my writing, and not having Internet available takes away a huge procrastination factor. And it’s also rather serendipitous that the first scene of the new story I’m writing actually takes place in a Bagels & Beans–be it in New York City.

The Internet thing didn’t work out, because B&B offers free WiFi, but that, too, turned out to be a good thing, because it gave me the opportunity to do some research on the harbor of Calais, where the flash fiction piece is set that I wrote today.

Yes, I am rather pleased with myself at the moment.

And this Wednesday will be my second B&B writing session. I’m actually looking forward to it.