I am making a New Year's Resolution. Just like athletes must practice every day, just like musicians must practice every day, so do writers. If I have nothing to write for publication, even if I am not on deadline or under contract, I must still write. And so I have committed myself to 15 minutes of writing every day. More if I have the time. But hopefully my muse will show up and keep me writing for hours.
In any event, I think I will post my writing exercises here for all the world to see when I die. I mean, eventually, when I die, someone somewhere will look for the things I have written and find this little blog. Maybe my grandchildren, maybe not.
I have purchased a book of writing exercises. Each day, I am given a topic on which to write. I can write a paragraph, or even a sentence, or I can go on for hours and hours.
Since it is already January 8, I have a lot to catch up on. So I have written on each topic so far and am placing the lot right here and now. But from this day forward, each topic will be a different blog.
You can choose to read it, or not. You can pass it along or pass it up. I am not writing for you, I am not even writing for me, I am writing simply for the sheer joy of doing so.
Oh sure, I could do it in a little WORD document and keep it all to myself. But if I have to put it on my blog, there are two benefits. First, I can do it from anywhere, any computer at all. And second, it makes me accountable. Like weighing in at Weight Watchers. I figure someone, somewhere knows I have made this commitment. So if I miss a day, feel free to e mail me and give me a little jab in the ribs to get me going again.
Here it is, and it brings us to today. The topic that I am given will appear just under the date, so you know what my assignment is.
If you are a writer too, feel free to use these excercises for yourself as well, they are very good and they are meant to get your muse up and about. Oh, and before I forget, some of this may be fictional, some not. It doesn't matter. It's the craft that matters, not the veracity.
January 1, 2009
A Sunday Afternoon
Sunday afternoons are best for sleeping. It’s a treat that one gives oneself, to get up on a Sunday morning, have coffee, read the paper, and then, when the clock strikes noon, go back to bed. It’s an easy thing to do because you have not taken off your pj’s yet, and so you just fall right back into bed as if you have never left. You know you won’t miss anything because, really, nothing ever happens on a Sunday afternoon. Others may think that Sunday afternoon is for sports. But not me. Sunday afternoon is for naps. And reading books. Curling up on the sofa, ice tea by my side, a cat or two tucked in the bits that can accommodate them, and diving headfirst into a good book. That is my idea of the best Sunday afternoon. And if you have to get up at 6:00 or so to turn on a light because you have been there all afternoon, well, so much the better.
January 2, 2009
A time someone said no
I don’t like the word no. It’s not easy for me to say but damn, it sure seems easy for others to say it to me. Have I ever asked for a raise and been told no? Not that I remember, but I think that would be a pretty disappointing no. Vacations. There are places I want to go. To Vermont. To Alaska. To Ireland. Ok that last one is a little off the charts but surely we can take a vacation to Vermont without breaking the bank. But I get told No about that over and over again. And usually, I don’t get the “no” in a verbal way. I get it in a silent, non-verbal way. I ask a question, I get a shrug. That means no. I don’t like being told no over little things that can be so easily turned into a yes. But when you make someone else responsible, you give up your freedom.
January 3, 2009
You’re Standing in a Doorway
So I was standing in the doorway of the new car dealership when I saw it. It was this years new Mustang and it was gorgeous. It looked so much like a ’65 that I just know that someone, somewhere, said, it’s time for a throwback! I wonder how Lee Iacocca feels about his Mustang being the car that all the people look at and say, Yes! That’s it! That is the car!!! I Hope someday that I, too will leave my mark on the world. The ’65 Mustang. Can you even imagine being the father of THAT? Others will be known for great works of art, literature and theater. But Lee Iacocsa, the father of the ’65 Mustang, he’ll be known as the inventor of cool. And that’s not bad at all.
January 4, 2009
A year after your death
A year after your death, I was still mourning your loss. Tabitha had come but she didn’t come to replace you. How could she? That would be impossible. Nobody could replace you. You were such a love in my life and I miss you my friend. A year after your death I still remember the moment I put my hand on your belly. “It’s the steroids” I said confidently, though inside I knew that your belly was much too swollen to be steroids. No, it was gastric torsion….bloat. I knew it and I knew what it meant but I couldn’t face it. A year after your death, I still remember rushing you to the hospital, going down a dark road at midnight, hoping you weren’t too uncomfortable, that I could deliver you into good hands. I wish I could have done more. A year after your death, I still wonder….could I have done more?
January 5, 2009
A day moon
Sometimes I look up into the clear blue sky and I spot you. “Are you still up, my friend?” I wonder how it is that you are still hanging around. You should have been to bed hours ago. And if I spot you late in the day, much later than usual, I marvel at your staying power. You, who are so brilliant and commanding of attention at night, you look so meek and washed out in the daytime. You don’t belong here, I think. But then again, neither do I.
January 6, 2009
Bathing
I love to take a bath. I know that some people can lounge around for hours in the tub. Well, maybe an hour. But not me. I want to, I want to lay there and bask in the scented hot water, releasing all my problems and issues and negativity into the water. I desperately want to do that. But I get bored. So that’s why I wonder if I would ever be able to meditate. I think so, but I’m not very sure. I just get so bored. And sometimes I get too hot too. I sweat in the tub. I hate the heat. I hate being hot and sweating. I hate being all red and hot. But I like the fragrances in the tub, and sometimes if I remember to put candlelight in the room that helps too. I like to take a bath instead of a shower. I think I get cleaner, but it has to be done right. You can’t lay there in a bacteria soup. You have to run the cool, clear, clean water over your whole body before you get out, because if you don’t, you will have sticky stuff all over you and that’s not good for anyone.
January 7, 2009
Once, When No One Was Looking…..
I made a U Turn at a red light at Northlake Blvd. and Alt. A1A. And now every time I go there, I think about that time I did that and wonder if I will ever summon up the nerve to do it again.
January 8, 2009
It’s what I do in the middle of the night…….
Sometimes when I have trouble sleeping, and I wake up with absolutely nothing nagging at me, I see if I can name all the states. I go through them first in alphabetical order, beginning with Alabama, Alaska, etc. But I seldom get all fifty. Then I forget, is there fifty or fifty two? But then I remember that we in the states are sometimes called “The lower forty-eight” and realize that Alaska and Hawaii make up fifty. So when I can’t remember all fifty by alphabetical order, I try by their place on the map. I go up the eastern seaboard: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina… but that is more difficult since some states encroach on others. I usually forget New Hampshire and sometimes I forget Minnesota but I never forget New York or New Jersey. I would like to say that it helps me to fall asleep, but it seldom does. I begin to think of the states I have visited, and that brings me to my reasons for being there, which conjure up even more memories and so on and so on and so on. Or I think about the states I have not visited, and get worried that maybe I never will. I have a heart wish to visit Vermont. I don’t know why, I just do. So if there is anyone in Vermont willing to have a houseguest for a few days in the dead of winter, I’m your girl. I would love to find a house-swapping gig with someone in Vermont, but I doubt the person swapping with me would want to deal with the husband, four foster kittens, one nice cat and two weirdos and two big dogs that live here. Oh, and there seems to be a gecko about.
Anyway, that’s what I do sometimes in the middle of the night. Sorry if I disappointed you.
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