Tag Archives: not writing

When in Doubt, Eat Ice Cream

Posted on June 21, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Once again I did not write a blog post while on breaks at work.  I spent my working hours thinking about my banana play and coming up with no ideas.  If I had picked up a pen to write, I’m sure all that would have come out was what a writing crisis I was having.  I worked on cryptogram puzzles instead.  On the brighter side, I solved one that had mystified me on several previous attempts.

I made a stop on the way home, but it was at a chain drugstore.  There is nothing wrong with picking up needed items at such a store, I suppose, but it hardly offers the Mohawk Valley cachet I seek for a blog post.  It has been a dreadfully hot day (I recently read somewhere that you should say “sweltering” instead of “very hot,” but I can’t say the day felt sweltering. At least I did not use “very” for once) and I was coated with sweat by the time I got home.  Still, I got right outside with my little dog, Spunky.  We did not take a walk, though.  It was more of a brief business meeting.  There was not a chance I was going for a run.  So a Pedestrian Post or a Running Commentary was not going to happen.

Getting on the computer, I stared at a blank screen for a while.  Nothing happened.  I went into Drafts and looked at a couple I never finished but thought I might some day.  Today is not the day.  I added a couple of sentences to one.  I am not displeased with either, but, well, they need work.  I pondered my future as a blogger.

Then my husband Steven said that after the show we were watching was over (a re-run of Snapped, incidentally), he was getting a bowl of ice cream, would I like one?  It is not a good way to meet my weight-loss goals, but as a boost to my spirits, it seemed the way to go.  I said yes.  That at least gave me a title.  While I waited for the episode of Snapped to end and Steven to get our ice cream, I typed in the first paragraph and a half of this post.  After savoring the Death By Chocolate (if they meant it literally, I would have died happy), I  wrote the rest.

We’ll call this a Monday Mental Meanderings, and perhaps tomorrow I will explain exactly how I think I am ever going to meet those weight-loss goals.

 

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Faux Finish Friday

Posted on June 18, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

This week it seems I have indulged in all my give-myself-a-break posts.  And regular readers know I almost never miss Lame Post Friday.  Additionally, I see that since Monday I have mentioned the appropriate weekday in the headline.  Can I continue the trend (I am writing the post before the headline)?  We shall see.

I spent a good deal of my time at work today wondering why I was not in a happier mood.  After all, Friday.  And I don’t have to work Saturday.  What’s not to like?  I was going home to a cute little dog, and my nice husband would be home a mere hour after me. When I got tired of wondering about that (it didn’t take long), I alternately tried to think of something silly to write about for my blog post and potential endings for my banana play.  I MUST finish that play soon!

I did not reach a satisfying destination on either of my trains of thought.  WHY are all the terrible events happening in my play?  Stephen King thinks it is scarier if you DON’T KNOW.  I see what he means, but I think it is sloppy writing.  A writer can withhold the explanation, I suppose, but personally I feel dissatisfied when I get to the end of a story and there is no reason for anything.  Oh, don’t prate to me about how “in real life we don’t know why everything happens,”  we’re talking about fiction!  But it’s neither here nor there; I don’t rule out leaving things a mystery, the more so because I don’t know why they are happening myself.

Oh dear, now you all know I am something of a sloppy writer myself (cue unkind remarks about how you knew it all along).

Speaking of sloppy writing, I am over 250 words.  I call that a respectable post. Now if only I can think of a headline that includes the word “Friday”…

 

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Not Writing on Bad Attituesday

Posted on June 15, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Under the heading Glass Half Full:  I get hot flashes at night, so I don’t get good sleep. Then I get hot flashes during the day, and they keep me awake, so I don’t get into trouble for falling asleep at work.  Sometimes menopause does you a favor like that.

I posted that as my Facebook status earlier this evening.  I make bold to lead with it here because, quite frankly, I got nothin’.   Yes, menopausal brain fog continues.  Additionally, it is Bad Attituesday.  I had a TERRIBLE attitude earlier today.  And I was almost completely unable to write.  Could one have something to do with the other?  No doubt these problems feed off each other.  The inability to write came first, since I have been struggling with that for a while, as regular readers know and are probably getting quite tired of hearing about.  Sorry, folks.

My attitude is a bit better since I finished my articles and sent them, with photos for one, to Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  I hope they like them.  Now I must start looking for topics for next month.  I have a couple of ideas, which would make good blog posts as well.  A good blog post for today?  Oh dear, I only wish I had one!

Before finishing my articles, Steven and I took a walk with our new little Shih Tzu Spunky.  Then I ironed patches on a couple pair of work pants:  on the butt of my BDUs and on the knee of my jeans (they are what they call “mom jeans,” and in fact they are my mom’s jeans, which I borrowed once and did not return) (in my defense, she told me I could keep them; Mom has more jeans than I do).  I just thought I’d throw in that little bit of housekeeping, so you would know that I do other things besides sit around and not write.  Happy Tuesday, everyone.

 

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Murky Monday Meanderings

Posted on June 14, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am having the damnedest time making my blog post today.  I’m sitting here with my laptop on my lap, being partially distracted by an extremely cheesy true crime show on cable television, and beginning one post after another, none of them very good.

So what, I think to myself.  I can just do a Monday Mental Meanderings, also known as Yet Another Post About Why I Can’t Write a Post Today.  I was going to blame it on menopausal brain freeze (or is that brain fog?  You see what bad shape I’m in!).  I can’t remember why I decided against that course (see what I did just now?).

We went for a nice little walk with our new (to us) little dog.  We met a couple of neighborhood dogs with their person and said hello.  Spunky is much more interested in meeting other dogs than Tabby ever was.  Tabby preferred people or cats.  We only went around the block, but it was pleasant.   Alas, not eventful enough to warrant a Pedestrian Post.

I don’t even have great plans for the coming week, so I can’t do a Preview of Coming Attractions, either.  On the other hand, I do plan to run tomorrow.  I could do a Running Commentary.  How’s that for a plan?  Or perhaps I could try to write about some of the cheese I’m watching tonight.  Right now, I’m turning my foggy brain back to that.  Happy Monday, everyone.

 

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Just Write?

Posted on June 11, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Write anything, just write.  That is the advice they give us.

“Who is ‘they’?” you may ask in that superior tone that so annoys me.  I may well ask back, “Who are YOU?”  Oh yeah, the critics in my head.  Who invited them to this blog post anyways?

So now I’ve written a whole paragraph without too much pain or problem.  I could go on like that, but am I really best served by doing so?  Another bit of writerly advice I’ve heard is, “Give that inner critic a voice, maybe even a name.  Write out your arguments with him or her.”  The idea is I will see how spurious the inner critic’s criticisms are and/or I will become bored with listening to that fool and tune him or her out.  So there.

Do all writers have this inner critic and are all inner critics as snarky and annoying as mine?  I would not be a bit surprised.

Regular readers know I have had a bit of a problem lately.  The other day I made up my mind to Just Write More.  Of course this is a recipe for ensuring that the one thing I just can’t/don’t want to do is write.  I tried to circumvent the automatic reaction with the caveat that I could Just Write  ANYTHING.  I also sternly told myself to Just Write Anyways.

And I have written, at least in dribs and drabs.  A couple of paragraphs in the TV Journal.  A few more lines on the banana play.  A not too contemptible lead for an article for Mohawk Valley Living (along with a few contemptible leads I crossed out).  Part of a letter to my sister.  And of course blog posts.

As I often observe, one must persevere.  Ah, I think that can count as a random observation.  Remember, today is Lame Post Friday, my day for random observations and half-baked philosophy.  I think this whole post counts as the latter.  Happy Friday, everyone.

 

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Why Wuss out Now?

Posted on June 9, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Earlier today I was afraid this would be a Wuss-out Wednesday post and, well, here we are.  I don’t have any excuse, although I suppose I could make something up. In fact, perhaps I ought to make something up.  It would exercise my fiction muscles.

Let’s see… inclement weather?  A tornado kept me hiding in my basement, where the dampness irritated my sinuses to the point that composing a post became impossible.  Nah, nobody will buy that.  Local readers know the weather has not been bad and non-local readers can check the National Weather Service or someplace.  What else may be keeping me from posting?  A traumatic experience on the way home from work.  I was accosted by brigands.  Or does that mean pirates?  Desperadoes.  No, that’s the Old West.  Common or garden muggers? No, no, I would just write a blog post about that.

Anyways, this is not a fiction blog.  Other bloggers post stories or portions of stories, or veer off into fantasy.  I enjoy reading them, but I have never followed suit. I write fiction in my non-blogging writing life.  Novels, plays, murder mysteries and the occasional children’s story.  And let’s not forget my resume (just kidding; I don’t have a resume).

The fact is, I have not been doing enough writing of any kind lately.  The only cure for that is to Write More.  I shall get right on that and report back tomorrow what all I have written.  As always I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

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Slacker Saturday

Posted on June 5, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Welcome to a new feature here at Mohawk Valley Girl: Slacker Saturday.  When you haven’t done enough to warrant a Scattered Saturday post, you didn’t write a post earlier and you just can’t wait to make your post and declare it wine o’clock. Oh, who am I kidding?  I don’t have to wait till after I post to have a glass of wine.  We’ve talked about sipping and typing before.  It is acceptable behavior among bloggers and a daily routine for some (um, I don’t do it daily.  Do you suppose I ought to?).

I worked today.  Although I was able to sleep until 3:30 instead of my usual 3:00, I’m tired.  I tried to take a nap earlier but without success.  I had a number of projects I thought I might work on, but all I wanted to do was sit on the couch and stare into space.  Naturally I stared at Facebook for a while instead.

I did spend a little time folding laundry.  Talk about a task of Sisyphus (ooh, I just figured out how to spell Sisyphus; yay me)!  Of course I love having a washer and drier in my house, but ever since I stopped going to the laundromat, I never have all my clothes clean at once!  I just can’t get to the bottom of the pile one load at a time.  I keep thinking, if I do one load every day, I will get caught up.  I can do that for maybe two days in a row.  Then if you don’t fold one load, you naturally don’t fold the next, and then you don’t want to wash another load till you fold everything you’ve washed so far.  Then sometimes you wear something out of the pile and think, “Ha, ha, don’t have to fold that one!”  Or is that just me?

One thing I did after much dithering was begin to learn my lines for Much Ado About Nothing (remember, with LiFT Theatre Company; I’m the Friar).  I had a bit of a sticky wicket when I could not find my Complete Works of Shakespeare. What’s that all about? It’s a giant yellow book, how do I lose it?  It takes a talent, I suppose.  If only I could use my powers for good.  When I lamented my loss on Facebook a kind friend offered me some Shakespeare books she doesn’t want any more (duplicates, I believe).  Another friend shared a link to all the plays.  I hope to get the books from the first friend soon (greatly prefer paper; I’m old), but in them meantime, I checked out the link, found my scenes and started studying.  Oh, how I love being in a play.

I almost forgot to mention:  I worked on my banana play while on break at work (I only got one today).  I think it is going rather well.

And look at this, I am over 500 words for one of my silly posts.  I think that deserves a toast.  Hope to see you all on Wrist to Forehead Sunday.

 

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More Writing about Not Writing

Posted on June 1, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Writing continues to elude me.  Could I just be lazy?  I must admit the possibility.  However, I did my best.  I did not bring a play to read or a puzzle book or even a couple of cryptograms cut out of the newspaper (it’s the Times Telegram and they call it the Cryptoquote, if you’d prefer I was more specific).  I only had my notebook and own meager brain with which to entertain myself on breaks.

Perhaps if I would have made the attempt, started to work on blog post, article or play, the words would have flowed.  Or I might have sat staring at a blank page, feeling stupid (I do NOT need any remarks about how that might be a most appropriate feeling) (you know who you are).  I went another way and started writing a letter to my sister.  Hey, at least I was writing! (Say, would that be a good title for today’s post?)

While I worked I tried to think about my banana play.  Full disclosure:  I had to keep leading my mind back to it.  All these dumb things kept popping into my head!  Mostly memories, including several old grudges I really need to let go of.  I considered making a few of those folks characters in the play or some future play or novel, then killing them off.  How satisfying would that be?  Perhaps I could try it and let you know.

In the meantime, after giving myself a stern talking-to about forgiveness and letting go of crap, I thought some more about the characters I have so far (NONE based on any people I actually know) and what might happen to them next.  I came up with a few ideas.  I’m thinking it would be a good idea to stop rambling on in this blog post and see if I can write anything down.  Then perhaps I could start working today on tomorrow’s blog post.  I used to do that all the time, when my hours were different and my bedtime later.

As for today, let’s call it another Tired Tuesday.  Those of us who were fortunate enough to enjoy a three day weekend know how tiring they can be.  Those of you who worked all weekend can bask in feelings of superiority and make whatever snide comments you like. If you make them in the comment section of this post, I will answer you politely.  I shall hope to see you all on Wednesday, when I may or may not Wuss-out (a little suspense adds spice to the blog).

 

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Cluttering Up the Blogosphere

Posted on May 31, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am experiencing a definite Writer’s Block this afternoon.  It is Memorial Day.  I went for a run this morning during which I had some definite thoughts about what I would write in a blog post today.  Now I feel that (a) I am not going to say it right if I try and (b) it probably wasn’t that good of a thing to write about anyways.   But isn’t this always the way with me?  I have nothing wise or profound to say.  I’ll only clutter up the blogosphere.

Now that I say that I begin to have a complete crisis of confidence and think that clutter up the blogosphere is all I do anyways.    Then I say to myself, “Oh, quit fishing for compliments.”  That is kind of what we are doing when we share our crises of confidence.  We seek positive re-enforcement.  Sometimes a voice outside oneself is easier to believe, especially when it is something positive.

Oh dear, this is not the post I started out to write.  I only wanted one of my usual Why I Can’t Write a Post Today posts.  I didn’t mean to get into any of these sticky self-esteem issues.  I’ll stop that right now.  The fact that I hit Publish every day argues that I have some modicum of self-confidence at least.  As for cluttering up the blogosphere (you know, I really like that phrase), I remind myself that there is a lot of room on the internet.  There is room for profundity and there is room for foolishness.  As I always say, go with your strengths.

 

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I Write, I Wuss

Posted on May 19, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

OK, I’m tired of typing that in.  I have not finished the post I mentioned yesterday, about the cheesy movie we saw, but I thought I would type in what I had and see if I couldn’t draw a conclusion.  I certainly get long-winded about these movies.  So now I’m stuck trying to come up with a Wuss-out Wednesday post.

Earlier I had thought to write a cooking post about what I made yesterday for dinner.  But when I was thinking about it, I realized that all my recipes are depressingly similar.  Put onions on the stove in some oil.  Crush garlic and set the timer for 15 minutes.  Add other stuff.  Eat.  Yum.  Not a bad recipe, really, but how often can I use it as a blog post?  How many times have I used it?  It is way too much trouble for me to check, so let’s count that as a rhetorical question.

I did do some writing while at work.  I began writing the banana play (I have a new working title now, but I don’t want to share it, because I’m afraid of its being stolen).  And I made up a new writing rule for myself: Don’t take breaks when working on a project.  I’ve attempted to implement this rule with novels.  I see now that it works with plays as well.

You see, I started working on the play (that is, started on yet another idea for that play) last week.  Monday through Friday I thought about it, and I got quite a few notes written.  Then the weekend came and I got a little busy.  So I didn’t work on it.  Sue me.  I thought I could jump right back into it.  Turns out not so much.  I spent Monday and Tuesday thinking about the play but felt somehow… outside of it.  I couldn’t get into it.  I made a couple of notes but felt ultimately stalled.

Today I looked over my notes some more and still felt stalled.  My problem was that I wanted to outline the whole play before I started writing.  I have never been able to do that, but since I have a problem with finishing things, I thought it would be a good thing to try.  I was not successful.  However, when I decided to just begin writing the first scene… it seemed to work.

So I have a page or two of Act I Scene 1.  I’ll keep you posted on how I’m doing.  In the meantime, I guess this is the best I can manage for a blog post today.  Happy Wednesday, everyone.

 

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