Monday Moanings - August 12, 2013

On the Wagon...

Sitting on my wagon rocking back and forth at the top of a new week. My fountain pen is fully loaded with fresh ink. It's time to get down to some serious writing.

I must say I'm really quite pleased with myself for keeping up with two blog posts a week. I wish I could say the same about the book; work on it has all but ground to a halt. I'm not stuck, it's not writer's cramp. There is a host of scene skeletons neatly suspended in the file folder just waiting for some flesh and connective tissue. So what's the hold up?

Well here's the truth: I spend way too much time with this question in the percolator while my write hand guides and clicks a mouse through the intricacies of Sudoku puzzles and Mahjong Titans. Such activity while apparently good for my ageing brain and the consumption of time, does little else of benefit to either me or the world.

What I need is a mouse trap, but where oh where does one find a trap for such a mouse. And how then does one set it? I know that the sheer joy of completing a scene or three is the best bait in town. The rest, I'm guessing is a matter of timing, and with that in mind I have blocked off 1:30 to 4:00 pm every day through Friday this week to step away from the mouse and put my write hand to the book. Because I am a firm believer in under-committing and over-delivering, I have left the weekend open even though I am often very productive on a Saturday and/or Sunday afternoon. For the same reason I am not going to commit to a total word count. Let's just see what I can do this week and then perhaps next week, I'll up the ante. And yes, I will give an account of myself in a week's time. The pressure is on!

But now it's time to tighten up the chin strap on the helmet, lower the goggles into position and push off...

Wherever you are, have a great ride this week.

Northumberland, England

©April Hoeller

Writing Craft Skills

At a WCYR Board meeting last night, I managed to remind myself and be reminded by another (thank you Carly Bumstead, really!) how long it's been since I posted anything here. 

I'm a writer, right?  And apparently one of some skill, or so claimed the president: "Just look around this table," she bubbled with an inclusive wave to all six of us gathered last night, "there is a tremendous depth of skill and writing craft sitting right here!." 
Well that gave me pause, let me tell you. We were considering the addition of a panel discussion and Q & A segment to our monthly meetings and I wondered what possible expertise I could bring to such an occasion. The question turned over and over again in my mind, anxiety and self-doubt edging up with every blank thought drawn. Then the heavens opened and the light shone! My offering to a community of writers, my skill is the one I've been diligently honing all summer, and one I'm sure I could talk about for hours - PROCRASTINATION. Why, just a few more practise units and I'd qualify to teach a master class on this beauty. And, and the really neat thing is that I've discovered a tonne of resources (real people!!) out there for me to call upon for support and encouragement.

Now let me be honest here, there has been one significant lapse in my devotion to this skill development, but I can explain...

My love and I cruised off the continent for a month, sailing out of Fort Lauderdale on May 5 and flying back from Amsterdam on June 3. First the good news: I took the written chapters of the memoir I'm working on, along with the bulging folder of notes, umpteen writing implements (one to suit each mood and a backup set), a full bottle of ink for my beloved fountain pen and two, count 'em, two pencil sharpeners. I was sure that seven consecutive days at sea crossing the Atlantic Ocean would prove too intensive for studies in writer's procrastination. I was wrong. I opened the writing kit but once -- to fish out a pencil sharpener required to tone up my best sudoku pencil. BUT then we made landfall and procrastination suffered a serious setback. Itching writer's fingers grabbed pen, pencil, whichever was near, and I began to write commentaries to accompany a selection of photos which were then emailed to followers at home. I wrote fourteen of these photo essays, some of them quite extensive for someone on vacation, and I confess, I had great fun writing them. Mea culpa, mea culpa...

Back home, there have been wonderful opportunities to sharpen my special writing skill -- strawberry picking and jam making, raspberry picking, family gatherings and of course editing and organising the 7500 digital photos from our cruise (though it has been claimed that this last activity is not writer's procrastination at all, but rather an intense trolling for story ideas -- yeah, sure).


I am thrilled to report that thanks to my daughter in law, I acquired just this past week yet another tool guaranteed to take me to the next level in my skill development -- the FitBit.  Basically this little gadget encourages and tracks walking, running and stair climbing, all of which preclude 'bum-in-chair' writing. It even rewards me with badges for every 5000 steps, 10 floors climbed and 5 miles travelled. SCORE+++ for writer's procrastination!!

OOPS -- gotta get going!
Cheers!