I just woke from one of those fabulous weekend naps, the unexpected four-hour kind. I now sit here with the shards of a few dreams still tumbling through my bleary brain, looking out at the tail end of a spectacular day. I feel good, but a bit guilty; I wasted a beautiful afternoon.
Friday was a great writing day, and when I get to the end of those, I usually think, "MUST! KEEP! THE MOMENTUM! GOING!!! Must outline and scheme more! Must write more! Must be even more productive than this! Yes! Yes!"
Which never works. Yesterday, even my husband noticed how lumpish and slothful I was being (although he's a dear about phrasing it as, "You look like you're having a nice relaxing weekend.") And today? Well. That wonderful nap was the apex of the excitement, although I may go for a walk before the sun sets; it's a blitzkrieg of fun here.
I seem to be the pole vaulter of writing; I come trundling toward my goal, face grave, slowly building speed. Then, when I deem myself close enough, in a burst of flailing appendages (mainly fingers), I launch myself at the scene.
Immediately afterward, I lie on my back for a while, staring at the sky and feeling pleased with myself.
What's your metaphor? Think about how you write and fill in the blank in the following sentence:
"I am the _______________ of writing."
Then explain yourself. :-)
10 comments:
Long-distance marathoner.
I write some each day. I don't neccessarily write a ton, but I do each day. So the words fill up, and I reach the end on a pretty steady basis. I know my limits. I take advantage of the occasional burst of speed, but I also know I can hit a minimum each day, even if it's a grind. My goal is to develop persistence and habit, so that when I have a contract and deadlines to work under, I won't ever experience a harder taskmaster and personal coach than myself.
Congratulations on your great writing day, Jen. I haven't had one of those in a while, but I'm working on it.
My dad coached track in the seventies and always made sure that his runners had days of rest. That was an unusual idea back then, but it's something my husband (a runner) also prescribes for himself. According to him, it's the only way you can get stronger. My husbands motto is this: If you think you're going too slow, slow down.
Well, that makes sense to me and so does your pole vaulting and then resting.
I'm getting very interested in reading your this novel of yours, you know.
I am the hmmm of writing. I'm going to have to think about that.
Keep up the great writing days and great resting days, Jen!
I am the Le Mans 24 Hours of writing.
I was going to say marathon runner, but I got beaten to it! Besides, I think Le Mans is a better analogy for me. While I don't write all day, every day, when I'm on course it's pretty constant. I have on occasion turned out 5000 words in one sitting. When I'm in that frame of mind, I write long and fast, often until the early hours of the morning (I tend to write in the evenings, having a business to see to in the daytime). Quite often I'll sit down to just read over what I'd done the night before, and next thing I know it's three hours and 2000 words later.
The other side of this is I can't multitask, and I have to stick with something I've started or else it'll never see completion. I have loads of short stories and novels that got started and never finished because something distracted me. I have all sorts of good intentions of going back to them, but it never seems to work out that way. :(
LOL. I love this analogy. Can I quote you? *g
Will have to think of something imaginative and evocative to describe myself... hmmmm
I'll get back to you on that. =)
Josh and Conduit: Really, we're all long-distance runners. We have to be, to stick it out for the duration of an entire novel! *puff, puff, slog, pant*
Claudia: Thank you; I'm sorry to hear you haven't had a great writing day in a while. However, you just got done a sprint, so maybe it's high time you had a rest! Relax and enjoy some time off.
Erica: *waves* Hi and welcome! Feel free to spread my flakey metaphors around. :-D
Heh. The first thing I thought of was:
I am the magician of writing.
I wave my hands around a lot, say silly things and then Viola! Pull a rabbit out of my hat (or cut someone in half depending on the day). People say I make it look really easy, but there's more going on behind the scenes than they know about.
And some days I feel like a big fraud. :D
Katy
Ooh; being the magician of writing sounds like a lot more fun than being the pole vaulter! :-D
Right now I feel more like a leaf on flood water.
*hands you a teeny tiny little mast, sail and rudder*
:-)
I am the turtle and the hare of writing. Sometimes I plod like a turtle, one clumsy foot ahead of the other, taking little, hobbled turtle steps. Sometimes I hare on at a great, furious speed, leaving other turtles behind in the dust. And I can never tell which I'm going to be, so the suspense of it adds a pleasant frisson to my writing day.
Nice to have something to get excited about.
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