Category Archives: writing

Better to Have Lame and Lost?

Posted on February 14, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

Lame Post Friday is meant to be lame. Don’t hate, don’t judge.

I spent my breaks at work today writing my play (the one I mentioned yesterday). I went back to work with a glowing feeling of I LOVE TO WRITE. What are those writers thinking, the ones who say, “Oh, I hate to write but I love to have written.” Yeah, yeah, to have written is nice, but I LOVE TO WRITE (sorry, must put it all in caps).

Of course some days I love it more than others. Which makes me think of running. I love to run. I love the physical act, I love looking around at the scenery while I do it, I love the way it makes me feel. Most of the time. Other times, I do not feel good when I do it AT ALL. Those are the days when at least I am glad to have run. In other words, I shall not judge the other writers (nor hate on them; see first paragraph).

It is beastly cold in the Mohawk Valley today. I think I have written other posts about my brain freezing up when it is very cold. Much like it melts in extreme heat. This Mohawk Valley Girl requires moderate temperatures in which to write, or at least in which to write anything good.

Which, I suppose, explains this blog post. All I can do is say again, don’t hate, don’t judge. Hope to see you on Scattered Saturday.

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At Least I Got My Plot

Posted on February 13, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

It’s all about the bananas.

I mostly said that to get your attention. I had been about to lead off with how I did not write today’s post while at work (yes, yes, on breaks), because I was writing a play. I thought it might be fun to tell you why I am writing a play.

In the play I was just in at Ilion Little Theatre (yes, still talking about that), we had a lot of laughs. One cast member was especially determined to be silly, Andy Vogel, who portrayed Constable Goddard (I feel free to use his name, because it appeared in the newspaper and on the program after all). During one rehearsal, I, or rather my character, turned around to say something to Goddard, and there was Andy, eating a banana.

“Why were you eating a banana?” I asked him after the rehearsal.

“I thought it would be funny.”

OK, it was funny. I don’t mind an occasional joke of that nature during the rehearsal process. It can break up tension or help you practice concentration. During performance? Oh hell no! I lived in fear. Then I had an idea. I told Andy if he pulled no shenanigans during performances, I would write a play for him with lots of bananas. He was delighted at the notion.

So that is what I am doing. At first I confess I spent hours looking for an idea. I would get one, realize it did not quite fit my needs, get another one, not like it at all… you know how it goes.

To tell you more would give away more of the plot than I want to talk about at this point. If a writer talks too much about what she is writing, sometimes she doesn’t want to write it any more. In fact, already I’ve said too much.

In any case, that is my post about Why I Did Not Write a Post Today. For a Non-Sequitur Thursday, I think it will do.

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No Momentum Monday

Posted on February 10, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

Earlier today I had a few lovely moments of I Can SO Write! Unfortunately it did not last long enough for me to also write my blog post. However, I did say I was going to need today for recovery from the play I was in that ended yesterday (if you are just tuning in and did not hear about the play, just look back at the last few weeks of posts. I’m sure I mentioned it). Moreover, it is Middle-aged Musings Monday. I’ll just come up with something reflective and drive on.

If only I had something to, you know, reflect upon. Right now I am mostly wondering why my bout of Can So Write did not last longer. What is it with momentum? Sometimes you got it, sometimes you don’t.

Oh, I can just hear that pesky inner critic now: “Nobody “gots” momentum. You CREATE momentum by doing whatever it is you want to, you know, moment.” (He pronounces “moment” with the second syllable accented.) Really, that is pretty good advice. I bet it was not the inner critic who said it; he’s never that helpful.

So what I needed to do was to keep writing till I got some of that there momentum. Now I think of it. In my defense, I’m tired. It is a cold winter day and I am not a young woman. Judge me if you want for my lack of momentum. I’m sure my inner critic will agree. I’m signing off till Tired Tuesday.

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Not Writer’s Block

Posted on February 6, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

It is not Writer’s Block. It is not Writer’s Blank. It is not Writer’s Anything! It is I Can’t Write Anymore!

I suppose I just proved myself wrong with that last paragraph, because, you know, I wrote it. But perhaps I have proven myself right with some of my previous posts (Only SOME? the inner critic carps).

That is what I wrote while at work today. And there did not seem to be much more to say. Then I came home, got on the computer, and read the nice comments on yesterday’s Wuss-out Wednesday post. Surely I was selling myself short and I could write a much better post. I WOULD write a better post! But I did not.

What I did instead was to go upstairs, get on the desktop (I’m on my little ACER now) and type in what I had written previously for an article to submit to Mohawk Valley Living magazine. It is about the play I keep using as an excuse or more accurately the reason for my skimpy posts. I did not just type in what I wrote. I re-wrote the lead, I rearranged the paragraphs, I edited what was there, I added more stuff.

Yeah! I WROTE!

So this is my Non-Sequitur Thursday post about writing. It was going to be a post about not writing, but then I wrote. I feel not displeased with myself. I hope to see you all on Lame Post Friday.

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Brevity is the Soul of Lame

Posted on January 24, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

The Law of Inertia applies to writing. To those who do not remember 8th grade Physics (I think my school just called it “Science”) (and I’m pretty sure 8th grade is when I learned this, although I could be wrong), the Law of Inertia states that an object at rest tends to remain at rest while an object in motion tends to remain in motion until worked on by an outside force.

A writer not writing tends to continue not writing. Or in my case, a blogger who spends several days composing last minute foolishness at the keyboard tends not to handwrite in her notebook during breaks at work.

That is what I handwrote in my notebook earlier today during a break at work (my computer is underlining “handwrite” and “handwrote” but I am going to pretend that they are words). You see, I knew it was Lame Post Friday, when it will not matter (per my own self-imposed rules) (which you may have noticed are subject to change) if I go the Foolishness at the Keyboard route. But yet, I wanted something more. After all, in the past I have written my lame post prior to typing it in. Now I anm trying to remember one so I can one make one of those pingback thing. Hmmm, nothing is coming. Well, you know what I mean.

What happened was, I wrote those two paragraphs then felt guilty for not studying my lines. You know, for that play I’m in. Also, it cannot be denied, looking at words somebody else wrote is much easier than coming up with words of my own. However, difficult though it sometimes is, I LIKE coming up with words of my own. This post is now over 250 of them.

250 words is not a long post. I’ve been reading other blogs and I know many run longer. However, they say brevity is the soul of wit. And it you can’t be witty, it is best to be brief. There, that covers me either way. Happy Friday, everyone.

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At Last! Writer’s Block!

Posted on January 13, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

I think I am finally experiencing Writer’s Block. I know, I know, many people believe it does not exist. Some people don’t believe in Santa Claus either; I refuse to debate some things. Normally I suffer from Writer’s Blank. I look at the page and it remains blank because that is my state of mind. Sometimes I suffer from Write It Down And Cross It Out (or Type It In And Backspace Over It, as the case may be). This, however, I can only describe as Writer’s Block.

I have a post that I wrote last week but did not finish. I thought I would type in what I had and finish it for today’s post. Then I looked at the lead and saw that it mentioned my Christmas vacation. Did that make it dated? Should I change the lead? Go with something entirely different or just change the wording a little to indicate that the post is about an adventure I had last month?

These are not difficult questions. All I had to do was pick an option and start typing. I could even put off the decision, type in what I had, and change it later. But somewhere in the back of my mind there lurked another lead. A good lead, one that made the post… different. Better. But the words would not come forward.

Well why does that matter? I argued with myself. Just type in anything, I said. You’ll find the words you want. If not right away, you can save the draft and finish it later or tomorrow. Just BEGIN!

And I could not.

I felt literally paralyzed (this is not a misuse of the word “literally,” I really FELT AS IF I was literally paralyzed. I did not say I WAS literally paralyzed) (so don’t get didactic on me). I had a couple of other ideas for blog posts I could have gone with. I thought, just write one of those for now. I put my fingers on the keyboard. Nothing happened. I couldn’t write ANYTHING!

Except, it seems, this. We’ll call it a Middle-aged Musings Monday and hit publish. Hope to see you on Tuesday.

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Not Quite My Post About My Destination

Posted on January 4, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

Full disclosure: I don’t dare write about anything but the destination I was so happy to reach at the end of yesterday’s post. I know I left at least one loyal reader in suspense and I do NOT want to start alienating loyal readers. Further disclosure: This post may not be very long or very good, because I have a band-aid on my left index finger and I have to keep going back to fix all the ensuing typos.

My destination was the Oneida County Historical Society at 1608 Genesee St. in Utica, NY. I was visiting primarily because I hoped to write about it for my favorite magazine, Mohawk Valley Living. I write for them.

I always feel a little self-conscious going into places and saying I’m going to write about it for the magazine. And not a little silly saying, “I’m Mohawk Valley Girl.” But imagine my delight when people know who that is because they read the magazine. Then we have a little love-fest for the magazine. It really is a high quality publication. I am proud to write for them.

I was at first hesitant to write for the magazine about the historical societies, since the directors are often contributors as well. However, I write from the perspective of a visitor to the society, so I feel I make a contribution. And the magazine can always pass on printing the article.

Incidentally, I always mention that last point. I say I am writing an article to submit. I can’t make any promises. So far I have written articles about the Herkimer County Historical Society, the Little Falls Historical Society, and the Rome Historical Society. As you may guess (or as you may already know), I love these community museums.

So I introduced myself to George Abel, who was manning the desk in the main room when I arrived. He immediately introduced me to the director, Brian Howard. I had just read Howard’s article in the December issue of MVL about the Unadilla Railroad, so I was happy to tell him how much I enjoyed it.

I took numerous notes during my visit and have in fact written the first draft of my article. I must polish it and submit it. And edit it to be a blog post as well. In the meantime, I thought it might make a different writing-about-writing post to talk about going to a destination for a magazine article.

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More Writing About Not Writing

Posted on December 16, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Well, it is not yet Tired Tuesday it is no longer Wrist to Forehead Sunday, yet I feel I qualify for both of those days. The annoying thing is that I did so write while at work today. I wrote at least a page before my shift started then a few paragraphs more at lunch time. I felt it was not contemptible. And yet. And yet.

What I really feel moved to write right now is an explanation of why I am not publishing what I wrote earlier yet. We’ll call it a Middle-aged Musings Monday and that will make everything OK (I do like giving things names) (I’ll write a blog post abut that one day).

After writing about Steven’s first Christmas gift to me (yesterday’s post), I thought it might be fun to do a week of Christmas memories. By age 51, I have quite a few. I have even been thinking about one particular Christmas lately. The reason I have been thinking about it is that I was broke then and I am broke now. I quite naturally began my post with that thought.

After a sentence or three I thought, “Somebody is going to tell me to stop whining.” You can’t tell tone of voice from typing. I felt I was being matter-of-fact about things, but no doubt some readers would hear whining. I wrote a few more sentences trying to dispel any notion that I am not facing my circumstances with cheerfulness, fortitude and a sense of humor (I’m not, really, I daresay I do whine, but wouldn’t it be nice if I did have cheeriness, etc.?).

Then I started to ask myself, am I even that broke? After all, I still have cable television and the occasional bottle of wine. I haven’t started stealing the dog’s food nor even applied for SNAP benefits. These reflections led to some half-baked philosophy about people crying poverty when the rest of us see none. This was not a Christmas memory! What the hell, Mohawk Valley Girl? So I skipped a line and jumped into the story I had intended to write, trusting to be able to clean it up later.

By the end of the day, I felt dissatisfied with what I had written. I felt certain there was a better blog post about that Christmas. And perhaps a Lame Post Friday post about comparative poverty or cheerfulness and fortitude. After work as I walked my dog, Tabby, I pondered my options, bearing in mind that I have rehearsal tonight and I was feeling more and more tired. I thought about writing about the walk I was taking. Then I thought about writing about why I could not publish the post originally intended.

And reading back over what I have written (I know, Truman Capote, it isn’t writing, it’s typing), I kind of like it. I will strive to be a little less tired on Tuesday.

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It Snowed On My Excuse

Posted on December 11, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I knew this was going to be a Wuss-out Wednesday. I even had a title picked out: “In My Defense, I Have Rehearsal.” Well, we all know: things don’t always work out for Mohawk Valley Girl.

I wrote a little bit while at work today (yes, boss, before my shift started), but not a blog post. I worked on an article I wanted to submit to Mohawk Valley Living. Then I studied my lines for the play I’m in with Ilion Little Theatre. I’ve mentioned that play before. I’ll mention it again no doubt. I thought I would hurry home, type my article into the computer and email it off the magazine, then barely have time to type in a quick blog post before getting to rehearsal. I thought perhaps I would make my blog post after rehearsal. I would have more time but would also be more tired. Either way, wussing out was on the agenda and rehearsal was to blame.

As I drove home, I wondered about my evening. You see, after the weather not doing much all day, winter started to huff and puff just in time for me to drive through it. Snow fell, wind blew, 4-wheel drive was appropriate. Would I have rehearsal? Would the snow stop as abruptly as it seemed to have started? I had no time for these questions, because my desk-top computer is slow to get started and slow to continue. My brain isn’t so fast either. But one must work with what one has.

I got the article written to my satisfaction, or at least as well as I felt I could get it, and was waiting for the little circle to stop swirling on my email when the phone rang. Rehearsal was cancelled. I thought that was a good call. After all, an actor can break more than a leg spinning out on an icy road.

Now that I didn’t have to worry about rehearsal, I didn’t have to wuss out, did I? Well that would be nice, wouldn’t it? Unfortunately, I used up what little brains I had writing that article. The best I can do is try again tomorrow. Goodness, is it going to be Non-Sequitur Thursday already? How the time flies.

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Unnecessary Angst

Posted on December 6, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have a problem with writing about my Mohawk Valley adventures. I can’t seem to write about them right after they happen. So say I don’t have any adventures during the week, so I write stupid posts, then I have a couple of good ones on Friday, then Friday evening I finally get in front of the computer… I go blank.

I say to my husband Steve, “I don’t know what to make my blog post about.” He says, “Write about tonight.” But I feel if I just write off the cuff, typing off the top of my head as it were, I’m going to leave out important stuff and not do justice to the adventures we had.

Well that’s fine, someone might say, just write about it tomorrow. Oh, now the pressure’s really on. I waited a day so I could make it good. What if it’s not good enough? Oh no!

I’ve probably talked about this angst before. Now I’m repeating myself. This gets worse and worse. I’m not only going to not write a good enough post about what we did tonight, I’m writing a stupid post about not being able to write a good post now!

Then again, it is Lame Post Friday. And some people are amused by my ridiculous posts. As always, I can only try again tomorrow.

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