 For Authors: March 13, 2013 Issue [#5560] |
  For Authors
This week: Observations While Finding My Desk Edited by: Fyn-elf  
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The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes. ~Agatha Christie
This mess is a place! ~Author Unknown
Love is the thing that enables a woman to sing while she mops up the floor after her husband has walked across it in his barn boots. ~Hoosier Farmer
A man who wants time to read and write must let the grass grow long. ~Sloan Wilson
I am never five minutes into stripping the clutter from my life before I start running into the clutter that is my life. ~Robert Brault
If a cluttered desk signs a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign? ~Albert Eintein
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Just maybe it was the fact that the sun was shining, it was 59 degrees outside and all the windows were open. It could have been all the fresh air breezing through the house, blowing out the stale winter 'closed up' air and energizing those spring cleaning sprites into action. It could have been my telling hubby last night that I really needed to find my desk and then immediately smelling my mom wafting through...felt like the scent was her saying, "It is about time!" in that 'Mom' way that brooks no tangling with!
Whatever the reason, this morning I happily attacked my desk. Honestly, I knew something was holding up the pile! First off, I have an old 'schoolmasters' desk with cubby holes, a lectern and lots of drawers that used to belong to my mother. (Hence that reaction to mom-scent!) I use it for work, writing, home stuff and computer time. (Read that as surfing, research or game-playing.)
It was piled with manuscripts, screenplays, month-old mail, notes, old pre-Christmas catalogs, notebooks, photos, and cards from my hubby. Along the way, I filled the kitchen trash can, found an earring (no clue where its mate is), discovered the pile of Christmas cards that never got mailed and one of my 'missing' favorite cds.
When I got down far enough, I realized the desk calender (under everything) was still on November. I cleaned, sorted, tossed, organized while working my way through the entire song list on my phone. I hummed, drank coffee, and felt very industrious. Oh, and I got side-tracked. Had to check out at least three catalogs, read innumerable notes that (at the time) must have been exceedingly important, and call two numbers that had no name associated with them and I had no clue why I'd written them down. (I still don't--neither belongs to anyone at the moment.)
I found copies of scribbled thoughts--most of which were illegible upon the writing. Found three dollars and twenty-seven cents, expired coupons, four hair ties and a long lost thumb drive. I had a blast! Now it is neat, dusted and a few days from now I will not be able to find several things which I will need desperately.
So it is neat, and clean and all purtied up and I sat down to do some writing--rather than read two manuscripts I have to get read today, an edit I need to work on or several other things. And I sat there. And sat there, doodling on the freshly placed calendar. I think I proved Einstein write--err right. Not one blessed thought came to mind.
Oh, but I'm writing my newsletter, right? Yeah, on hubby's computer, on his desk which is piled three times higher than mine at its worst. And the ideas flow. But not to worry, give it a week and my desk will be well on its way back to normal!
Earlier I was thinking about my erstwhile messy desk. I was outside with the dog and a cup of coffee, seriously considering if it was warm enough to hang the wash on the line. Couldn't write so I took refuge in doing laundry. Sad. Really sad. But it got me thinking about the reason why I couldn't write. Usually I am in the middle of three or four stories and bits and pieces of them clutter my mind--he's off on a ramble and finds that antique trunk, she's about to do battle with her abusive step-dad, the swing branch on the old oak gives way in the storm or someone gets lost searching for their great-grandmother's grave down some back road in Michigan. Printed out sheets of paper chronicle various bits of research: maps, photos, word translations, how something or another works. There are lists of 'things' piled: animal group names, Montreal cafes, San Fransisco bus schedules, Louisiana restaurants and Broadway play schedules. All the detritus is now neatly filed--in a drawer--out of sight. Hmmm. Out of sight; out of mind. ACK! My desk is now a clean, empty slate. I have cleaned, dusted, organized 'me' right out of the picture. It looks like it did when it was my mother's desk. Neat as a pin, organized within an inch of its 100 year old life and Mom would be a happy camper.
A moment ago, my hubby came in and deposited a pile of 'stuff' he's found finding the dining room table and the kitchen counter. (The cleaning bug is apparently contagious.) "I sorted through all this and there's a bunch of notes I don't know what to do with, but that I know better than to ditch them. Also, here's a frog, an owl and a bunch of Wynwidyn stuff." He dumps it all on my nice, clean, empty desk. Just plops it all down in a sloppy mess resembling a pile. Gosh I love him! MY DESK is back! --saved, and am now on my computer at my desk. His is way too much of a mess! *grin*
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My picks are some of the winners and honorable mentions from the recent Quill Awards
| | | Moon Flowers (E)
You love them when you meet, even though inside you know what lies are told by the night,
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drjim wrote:HEY FYN-NY FYN FYN!! Notice how your buddy Dr J still uses that Big Bad Wolf connotation with the 'chinny chin chin' taking a new form of....huh! You guys guessed it already!?! Well Fan-dango! (Or is it Fang-Dang-o?) Either way, I LOVED this newsy Newsletter with soooo much observational data, so much so that I will opt to receive all your NLs in the future!! WONDERFUL work, ESPECIALLY the part about....zzzz.....yup...ZZzzzzzzzz....NAPS! Double Fang-Dang-O!! Mahvelous mahvelous! Thanks once again for the info and all the small, telling tidbits that make for a sure 'triple read through', such is the conventional term for a surefire page-turner.... Great Spirit bless you richly and always, Dr J
Well didn't that just make my day!
WriteWords  wrote:New to Writing.com. Thoroughly enjoyed Observations over the weekend especially observing folks in checkout line at supermarkets. I learned a long time ago that the huffing and puffing does not move the line any faster.
Welcome to WDC!!
Gaby  said: Great newsletter! I love the accidental party.  Your neighborhood sounds interesting, fun, and entertaining.
It is a great neighborhood! And thanking you!
Silverwindrose Dragon Minstrel  adds: What a great newsletter. You had me laughing through most of your story while helping me find a another way to show the story.Thank you, Silverwindrose
Thank YOU!
Quick-Quill  comments: Observation-The minute I saw the title I thought of THE MENTALIST. This TV program should be required watching. What tips for our own time use. Sitting at Starbucks/gas/grocery/bank lines. What story can we make up by observing these people? What mannerism can be added to our "bank"? Don't drive up, go and stand in line. Think of it, not as a punishment, but an opportunity to get the notebook out and OBSERVE!
Absolutely!
A*Monaing*Faith  offers:All great quotes, but I like Erwitt's the best. Love the style of this NL, perhaps it would be beneficial to log my observations while people watching, one of my favorite free pastimes  I also think that learning to simply observe is beneficial to any and everyone, writer or not, you learn a ton about others and yourself when you simply don't talk.
Observations and the learning to be aware of them are key to good, descriptive writing that jumps off the page! |
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