Month: June 2012

Sleepless, Clueless, Museless

Okay, I’m sure ‘museless’ isn’t a word, but if you’re a writer you know what I mean. I’m becoming an expert at staring into space and writing at a speed of about 2 sentences an hour. That doesn’t count the shopping list that I wrote much more quickly–and I forgot when I went to the store.

Hypnos, the god of sleep, has been conspicuous by his absence for several days, and therefore, my ‘cluelessness,’ which in my case entails having hotdogs for lunch and then leaving the package on the counter for the afternoon instead of putting it in the fridge. Did you know that washing machines actually need to have a button pushed before they start working? Or that the dryer door will keep popping open (after you walk away) until you finally notice that the pyjama bottoms lying on top of it are being shut in the door and it’s really not closed? It took forever to get those towels dry.

Days of the week have been a challenge, too. Hence the not-so-patient explanation from my son at my surprise that he arrived home on time yesterday. “Today is Wednesday, Mom. I said I’d be late home on Thursday.” And he did. Several times. Duh.

And I’ve lost my watch–and at least 2 phones–the cordless kind that work on our landline.

So early to bed tonight so I can renew my acquaintance with my laptop tomorrow and get more accomplished than warm thighs. And, hopefully, with the fog cleared, I’ll track down the missing phones and my watch (though the one I bought from Shoppers Drug Mart for $5 is working fine.)

If you have days like this, please let me know. I’d like to believe I’m not alone.

Keep your fingers crossed. I’m going to post this and attempt to cook dinner!

PS – No matter how often I proofread these blogs, they always go out with a clunking great typo in them that I miss until they’re published. For those who subscribe, my apologies in advance.

The Lure of Research

I have discovered an extremely effective delaying tactic–research.  As long as I’m reading about the work my character will be doing and the setting he’ll be doing it in, it’s still writing time. Right? I’m making progress on my story. Right?

Wrong.

I love opening my resource book and scribbling notes from it in my journal, or scribbling in the margin if the book is mine. I print articles and file them in cheerful folders for highlighting and more margin scribbling later. And I learn so much, too!

Did you know that a medieval scribe might have to sharpen his or her quills sixty times during a day’s work? (Yes there were female scribes and illuminators, too.) Did you know that pages in today’s books are rectangular because the parchment that was used in most of the pre-Gutenberg books was cut that way because of the shape of the animal’s skin from which the pages were made?

All very useful information, but it’s not helping my story get written. Why the procrastination? Simple answer: because I know how hard the writing will be. I know that what’s ahead will be a slow and often dissatisfying process, and yeah, I find launching a new project scary, too. What a wuss!

I like to think of myself as a writer, so enough whining, reflection, justification, procrastination, whatever you want to call it. Time to ‘writer-up’ and get to work. I have an appointment with my treadmill desk this afternoon. I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

Do you procrastinate? What lures you away from the blank page? What helps you get the writing done?

Writing Prompts for June

1.  Use one, some or all of the following words to spark a story or poem: bloom, wall, flow, cup, eye, time

2.  Use one of these opening sentences to start a story:

    • Okay. Remind me again why I wanted to be a June bride.
    • A black wall of cloud raced in from the west. Dead leaves scattered in the wind. Once again, the perfect setting for his arrival.
    • I refused to let them see me cry.
    • When I thought about the cabin, I only remembered the corners—the ones where I’d crouched in fear.*
    • I never dreamt it would be still standing after all these decades, but then, if my great aunt’s diary was right, this simple weathered cabin was magic.*
    • I hated classical music, so fortunately for me the concert was cut short half way through the William Tell Overture—sadly so was the conductor’s life.

3.  June 21st marks the official beginning of summer. Use some of these summery titles and excerpts to frame a story, personal memory, or poem:

A Summer Place, Summer in the City, Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows, The Summer Breeze, The Summer of ’42, Summer Wine, Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?, The Longest Day, Summer Holiday, Summer of ‘69.

4.  See where these lines of dialogue take you:

“Come here and look at this!”

Kelly obediently peered over Mike’s shoulder at the computer screen. “What am I supposed to be looking at?”

“Linc’s Twitter account’s been hacked.”

“Yeah, so? Happens to lots of people. The message usually says that someone is saying bad things about you and gives you a link you’re supposed to be stupid enough to click on. No one falls for it anymore. Linc knows what to do.”

“This message is different.” Mike pointed at the screen. “Look.”

Kelly read the message to herself and then again out loud. “They’re going to kill me. Help.”

Or these:

“Excuse me did you drop this?”

“No that’s not mine.”

“I think it is.”

*I posted these writing starters at author Laura Best’s blog http://lauraabest.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/something-in-the-middle-of-nowhere/#comments in response to a photo. I thought they would be fun to share here.

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