Work In Progress
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May
28
Tweets for 2009-05-28
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- I finally remembered to turn twhirl on again! #
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May
19
Tweets for 2009-05-19
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- Mmm…. Grilled boneless top sirloin steak and a huge salad for lunch. I love it when Matt works from home.
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May
18
Tweets for 2009-05-18
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- Egg salad sandwich for breakfast. Yum! Is this the start of a decent food day? #
- Finished spreading another bag of mulch in the garden. Two more to go. #
- Time for some lunch, and then some writing. I hope. #
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May
15
Tweets for 2009-05-15
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- @chartjes Hey Chris! Donovan has asked to learn programming, and he’s starting with Python with the “Hello World” book: http://is.gd/AcKI #
- LOL! http://bit.ly/Iggw7
Another silly reason I wish I had an iPhone. # - @chartjes I’ll keep that in mind. Donovan’s first “lesson” is going to be this weekend, after Matt’s read the first chapter. #
- More procrastination – should I do a Chef Lisa blog entry about my failed potato salad last night? Hmm…. Decisions, decisions…. #
- Okay, if two people are both lying on their backs on a bed, how can one be looking up at the other? #
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May
15
The weather is pretty good today. Temperatures are hovering around 70 (well, looking at the thermometer it says 66, but I will ignore it and say it’s 70-ish), a very light breeze, and the sun is shining. I’ve got the windows next to me open, and a cardinal and a blue jay are telling each other off in the maple tree. And now the morning dove has decided to get in on the act.
Things are moving slowly for TMA. Alex is alone again, and I’ve come up to another event that I need to rework as it no longer fits as originally planned. I see a way to work through this, but it will need some finagling*. I open up the document, get ready to start typing – and I decide to go out and do some gardening.
An hour later, a three gallon bucket is full of weeds and grass that had invaded the circle garden** and four cubic feet of red mulch has been spread. (There’s another six cubic feet in bags in the trunk of my car, waiting for Matt to get home and take them out.) That part of the garden now looks nice.***
I know my detour to do the gardening rather than working on the novel is a cop-out. Procrastination. I can’t really help it. Sitting on front of the computer is starting to get confining, like my mind is being smothered from the knowledge that I have so much I have to do, and no idea how I’m going to do it all. So, I find “excuses”, things around the house that really do have to be done, but really could wait for when I’m not supposed to be working.
Doing the gardening, though, helps me think. Usually, when I think, it’s a good thing. The people in the rpg games I run would deny it, as that’s often when I come up with the most evil things I can do to their characters. Or was that when I’m in the shower. Regardless, it happens when I’m doing not-writing things.
Working on the garden today made me think about the process of writing, or perhaps more like editing. When you start, you’re ruthless, pulling out all the stuff that doesn’t belong. You work hard and fast. Eventually, you slow down, and that part isn’t quite as much fun anymore. So you decide it’s time for the mulch. You spread it on nice and thick. It’s so pretty, and you hope you put enough on top of the stuff that doesn’t belong that nobody will notice it when they look. But, deep down, you know the weeds are still there and aren’t going to go away.
Weeding = editing, and mulch = flowery prose. If there are fundamental flaws in your writing, no amount of flowery prose is going to hide it perfectly. You need to pace yourself, and understand that editing is not a sprint to see who can get done first, but a marathon where the person who wins is the one who did their best.
* Finagling is my “big word of the day”.
** I discovered today, actually, it’s more kidney-shaped, but I’m not going to stop calling it the circle garden. So there.
*** Yes, Mom, I will send you pictures soon.