BEFORE WHINE
This Friday post is mostly for writers, although you of any and all skills can identify.
Yesterday was a pretty crummy day. You know crummies — nothing in particular, but a dozen things coming and going that make you say “I quit for the day.”
I was driving home from work; a lovely stretch of countryside between my work town and home town. Four great 90 degree turns, each one hosting a different view; cornstalks five feet taller than me (which isn’t saying much), no one on the road. It was a slow, steady rain. I was taking it rather slow and steady, too.
A few things happened on this familiar trek; someone driving on the wrong side of the road, a few animals dashing from one side of the road to the other; weird things. The pavement glistened softly, reminding me of my double-rollover last November. People driving on the road who usually never take this route.
You know how a creative mind wanders. Suddenly I had this great idea for a story. A first-person narrative about driving and getting stuck driving the same four turns and all that sci fi eerie stuff. I embellished it and worked on it all the way home.
The sad thing is, I don’t know when I’ll ever be able to write it. And I don’t think it’s ever as good as when it’s fresh in the mind.
Last night was family, tonight shopping, tomorrow family party — there’s a Sunday Art blog I want/need to get done by Sunday, things I ABSOLUTELY have to get done around the house — when is there time for writing? I don’t often write short stories any more, so when this idea hit me it was like a breath of fresh air. Yet now the air is stale, and before you know it I’ll forget the punchline. I’m already forgetting peaks that once made me excited — it’s like overthinking something. Your original idea is not always what you wind up doing.
I hear you saying, “Just Make Time!” But sometimes that’s just not possible. I’ve been fighting/working with sleep issues lately, so I can’t just go in my bedroom at 9 and write. And if I have to make a choice, prime time with my grandbaby supersedes writing a great story.
I’m sure these things happen with painters and graphic designers and everyone who enjoys being creative. Maybe I have my priorities upside down. Maybe I need to find that time-travel hourglass thingy Hermione used in one of the Harry Potter movies (so she could take two classes at the same time).
Maybe I should just give upyadda yadda blah blah yadda blablah……
AFTER WHINE
Sat down Friday evening after dinner with the family, the boys played video games (even grandbaby), pregnant mom just relaxed, I pulled out my computer, and finished my story.
SOOOOOO
The moral of the story is: write out your whine, get it out of your system, then shut up and write/paint/draw.
As my hero Jason Nesbith from Galaxy Quest says — Never Give up — Never surrender!
Well, it’s a few days later, and I’m embarrassed to reread my whine-a-thon the other day. We all get into the funk now and then — the reasons don’t matter. Usually they pass as quickly as they come. The point is, though, is that most of us don’t take to public media to share that whining.
Humoring the Goddess 