One of the coolest or most annoying things about being a writer, depending upon how you look at it, is the fact that all of life can be an idea about a new story.

Now my problem with getting these brilliant ideas lie in the fact that most of these ideas occur when I'm on someone else's time....In other words, at work. (Obviously I keep a notebook with me at all times so I can write down my ideas that come to me at inopportune moments.)

What moment in my life gave me a great idea?

None of your beeswax! Do I look like I'm lost my mind and I'm suddenly willing to just give away a brilliant idea? Of course not!

But, I did manage to get the basic idea sketched out. Very basic. Thing is, I think I just want to create something that entertains like a mini-soap opera or round robin. Either something utterly ridiculous or so realistic my friend will look at me and wonder what I've been holding back on them all these years.

Now the question is: Substance or Slapstick?

Mimi

I'm not going to panic.

I'm not going to panic.

I'm not going to panic.


...I figure if I say it enough, it will work.

I've been working on the critique of one of my most active critique partner's wip (work in progress). Critiquing is a great way to keep writers block at bay. But that's neither here nor there at this point, so let's end this digression. I was half way through the critique. Had enough useful comments to actually help (ie: caught some typos) and made just enough smart remarks to keep her from putting a hit out on me, when I decided to stop and attempt to finish working on my bedroom. Yeah, I know. I'm the Queen of Procrastination. After coming back, I played a few games of Collapse. Shut it down when I was done and went back to critiquing the story. Now, the computer didn't freeze per se, but I couldn't get it to do what I wanted it to do outside of typing in my comments/corrections. Of course I saved the document...I'm not a fool despite how foolish I feel right now. After using Ctrl+Alt+Del to get the task manager to assist me in shutting down the unnecessary files, I was able to get the chapter open again. But what should greet my eyes when I get it back up and functioning?

A Blank Page.

So, I'm not going to panic.

Nope. I'm not going to run around holding my head in my hands screaming like a banshee.

It would wake the neighbors.

Mimi

It's so easy to NOT write...even when you want to.

I swear I want to write. Last night I managed to get through about 3 pages of notes on my current story. The sense of accomplishment at getting words from my mind, to paper and then my computer screen is something that I cannot explain.

But right now, I'm forced to clean my house. It's Saturday morning and my kitchen floor is screaming at me about being neglected. My boudoir isn't happy with me either. It's currently playing hostess to a small card table that up until 30 minutes ago held my sewing machine.

Meanwhile, I have a heroine and her best sistahgirl friend chatting in my head. The question is, do I stop and deal with them now or do I go ahead and clean....I have people coming over later...and risk not being able to recall their conversation later once all the cleaning is done and the visitors are gone.

Oh who am I kidding? Those two chicks can't shut up. I'll be able to recall their conversation later. The real trick is to not zone out on anyone talking to me until I can get back to my computer.

Mimi

I am many things.

I'm a Mom.

I'm an Artist.

I'm a Daughter.

A Sister.

A Sounding Board.

Editor Extraordinaire!

And an excellent Friend.

But most of all, I Am A Writer.

I've written for almost as long as I can remember.

For instance....

I remember sitting in seventh grade math class and being bored out of my mind and deciding I could probably entertain myself by writing a poem. I haven't a clue what the ramblings of my pre-teen mind could have been....probably about some imagined nappy headed knight in a beat up deuce and a quarter, or where that ill-fated poem is today. But throughout the years one thing has remained constant: I love to write.

Unfortunately, I suffer from many of the afflictions that most other writers sufffer with.

The inablity to get what's in my head on paper...or in my case, on my computer the way it plays out in my head.

The distractions of the everyday world.

More emails than you can read in a week arriving daily.

Phone calls from people that I don't feel like talking to but have to because they're my "Near and Dear".

And the very worse culprit of them all....A really GOOD book.


See...even as I type, I'm being distracted by you!

I swear, I can't win for losing.

Mimi