Today my kitchen and bathroom floors are being replaced. For the last hour I've listened as they pound and scrape to pull up the old flooring and sub-floor. In some places entire pieces of sub-flooring needed replacing. It is work intensive. I'm so relieved we didn't decide to do it ourselves I'm sure it would have taken us at least a month!
It occurred to me that the careful attention to the preparation of the sub-floor before the final product is laid is vital to a quality finished look. A strong base at the beginning of my day can be the difference between pulling all my hair out and yanking only a few strays between paragraphs.
Stephen King said, "There is indeed a half-wild beast that lives in the thickets of each writers imagination." He goes on to explain that being in the clearing when the beast decides to emerge is about putting in the time. Time reading, writing, thinking, dreaming, all activities that you must do alone.
Things that get me to the clearing:
- Cup of Joe or Tea.
- Read
- Journal
- Get dressed, wash my face, brush my teeth. (Not necessary when I am running to the computer spraying word sparks from my fingertips.)
- Take a walk.
- Sit on my ass. (There is no getting around this.)
Emotion and mental states--anger, sadness, loneliness, frustration, doubt. When I just need to vent or escape using writing.
ReplyDeleteLee
Tossing It Out
Music!
ReplyDeleteYeah, never attempt to lay a floor by yourself.
Hmmm. Emotions. Music. Walking.
ReplyDeleteHope the floor-laying has gone smoothly.
ReplyDeleteHmm, I'm in the process of trying to get a writing routine going, so I can hit my daily word target early in the morning while my mind is fresh. I come up with a lot of my inspiration as I do my early morning chores, so I'm trying to time my writing for straight after the chores so I can put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard) while those thoughts are fresh in my mind.
Lots of great ideas! Rachael, The writer Joanna Trollope's routine is very similar. She said, "I try and have the dog walked, the wash in the machine and the post opened before I sit down to write. I'm not good with writing with disorder all about."
ReplyDelete