Burning Shakespeare

I got to work early this morning and had oodles of time to sit and think. I did some writing and it felt good to be putting pen to paper instead of typing. However, I found I missed the speed at which I can type something up and hit the delete button if it doesn't sound right when I read it over. There is something to be said for the modern convenience of the computer. That got me to thinking of Shakespeare. I'm in no way an expert on him. I haven't yet found a single thing of his that I can read without wondering, what the hell is he saying and why doesn't he just say it already instead of beating around the bush until he's worn a moat in the ground and no one can actually get to the bush anymore? But that's an argument for another blog. Deep breath. No, what I was thinking about is all the paper he must have used writing and revising his rambling thoughts. Can you imagine the hundreds and thousands of pages of script he wrote and how little of it was actually usable? And, how did he keep it all straight? I mean, I have a computer and I'm still not the most organized writer there is. I'm pretty sure I'm in the bottom 10% when it comes to writing organization. But imagine how he must have felt sitting in his tiny little room, candles lit and trying to keep his papers out of the flames. That begs another question, how many fires did he start and how much of his work was burned, accidentally, before he learned to write in the daylight when no candles were needed? I'm just saying ...

Yet Another Method Of Procrastination

Here we are at Friday again and another week is gone. Time is flying by yet I don't feel I've been as productive in my writing as I think I should be. True, I've been writing papers for my classwork and there are other pulls on my time, but I should be setting aside time to do my own writing. So, what do I do about this non writing funk I've fallen into? Pick up a pen and look at a chapter I need to revise. I'm not sure the strategy will work, it's almost too simple to have really good results but you never know. I may take a fresh look at my work and see some kind of glaring screwup that needs remedied. I think the biggest reason why I'm not writing is that I have two manuscripts complete and I feel that if I work on more I'm somehow not finishing my projects. I hate unfinished projects. So, I've set roadblocks on my creating a new character and story or finishing some of the other stories I've started until I've finished one of the two revisions I need to do. Maybe I need more of a balance between the two sides of the writing. Maybe there should be a little bit of creating something new along with a few revisions. Or maybe I should quit writing in my blog about what I could be doing and go do it already. Hmmm...

Taking Stock Of My Life

I've been keeping a journal lately. It isn't something I've ever been good at and, quite frankly, I don't think I'll have this one written up into a memoir any time soon. Still, it has been useful to me to straighten out my thoughts. I get so busy with surviving life that I sometimes forget what I need to do live. What do is meant by live? (Ah, yes, Cynthia, I have been paying attention.) I mean sit back and relax; take stock of all the good stuff. Did I notice the lilies out front are shooting up all dark green and leafy? (Well, the ones that don't have something eating at them, anyway.) Did I listen to my kids talking just for the joy of hearing their happy voices? (OK, so they have to have happy voices in the first place and being teens that's rare.) Did I smile for no reason other than I just felt good? (Maybe not a good idea since I do talk to myself more often than I like. Scratch that last question.) Did I tell my boss it's a joy to come to work? (Perhaps I should pass out waders before saying that.) Nope, haven't done any of these things. But, I did take the time to think about them. Well, the more I think about them the more I'm convinced it isn't such a good idea to go look for trouble. So, I'll just plop into my chair after a long day and breath a sigh of relief that it's another day down and I'm still alive. WOOHOO!

To Clean House ... Or Not

The weather has turned very nice which spurs me on to clean the house. I don't know why this is so but the first warm days of the year make me want to get my house in order. Well, as much of my house as I claim as mine. I don't go near the kids' rooms. They're more than a little bit scary. Nor would I be so bold as to walk into Mom's room and clean. I might find more than I bargained for in there. Now she's got a man friend, I may be staying out of her room forever. Okay, so let me just say that the warm weather making me want to clean the house has nothing whatsoever to do with me actually doing the deed itself. To date, the house is not cleaned nor have I begun the cleaning process. There are simply too many other things to do. I have reading to do and writing and blogging and class and revisions and ... you get the picture. Not that these things are necessarily getting done either but I like to say I have so much to do that I can't possibly clean today. So, what have I been doing? I've got a stack of manuscripts to read and I've been making my way through them along with notations. The revisions on the manuscripts I've already read have been returned to me and let me tell you, those authors are awesome. They know when to change their work and when to hold their position. The resulting stories are coming together very nicely. Mine is going through some real growing pains. Much of it needs to be cut and condensed. There are three chapters in particular that are going to have to become one. I just have to figure out how to do that without losing the important stuff. I'm really good at slashing. I really am. My problem is more an issue of not knowing when to stop slashing. All right, that's the blogging done, now I have reading to do then to the writing. See, I'm way too busy to possibly clean my house. LOL