With most of the packing completed for our trip to North Padre, I
had a small window of time I had scheduled for my weekly blog post. Even had a
topic picked out. Sat down at the computer, stared at the screen saver, opened
Word and then typed in my proposed topic.
In the past, when I hit a writing stumbling block, I usually
remedy the situation with a few deep breaths, finger stretches and verbally
giving myself permission to just write…quit editing the thoughts before they
get to the screen. And this technique works…worked, I should say, until
yesterday. Image below describes what I imagine the inside of my head looked
like.
With the topic at the head of the page, I typed a paragraph.
Sat back to think for a good 10 minutes, wrote another paragraph. Then another.
And another. I try to limit my blog posts to 500-750 words so as not to
elaborate the topic or bore the reader. I’d reached around 325 words and
decided to re-read.
What the hiccup? (a phrase I stole from my grandsons) I’d taken a hard
right in my writing of said intended topic. Then a 180, then another right.
Whoa. I’d ventured into a whole new topic. After dividing the
writing and placing in separate folders, I returned to the original topic.
About that time Rich walks in.
Rich: “How’s it going?”
Me: “Not great,” and explained my mental road trip.
Rich: “Well, break it up into two topics.”
Me: “Way ahead of you.”
Rich: “So, which one are you going to write about?”
I threw out a completely
different blog topic, which I started. After about 20 minutes I realized my
fingers felt like molasses had been strategically placed on the tips of my
fingers. My fingers, hands, and brain were all in freeze-frame.
Dang hard to concentrate when my brain had already parked
itself on the beach.
Got down to our friend’s house on North Padre Island around
6ish. Unpacked, had dinner and then Rich headed out night fishing in his kayak. The
second picture shows the lights the homeowners put in the canals. Draws in
the fish and looks way cool.
I had the entire evening to myself. Even had my iPhone
upgraded to a hotspot so I’d have internet access while we were going to be
down here, so I could do some serious work (going through my first edit of Partly Sunny).
This morning…
Rich: “Did you get a lot of work done last night?”
Me: “No, I ate ice cream.”
Rich: “No editing, no nothing?”
Me: “How many fish did you catch last night?”
Rich: “Uh...I got in pretty late…think I’m going to go lie back
down for awhile.”
Me: “Good idea.”
So…
Here I sit, only this time my fingers are actually moving.
My brain seems to have gotten its buttocks off the beach, which allows me to
remove the sign stuck to my forehead.
Sometimes you just gotta let your mind play...
