What I Talk About When I Talk About Writing

March 27, 2010 What I Talk About When I Talk About Writing

With apologies to Raymond Carver.

I imagine that the life is a writer is somewhat liked a recreation of the children’s book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.  Or at least it is for me.  I have discovered the root of my previous fear of writing (who needs Dr. Phil?).

Perfection.

I’m not a perfectionist by any means.  But when it comes to writing..I’m a big perfectionist. Even in college, papers were written “in my head”..my excuse was that’s how I liked to frame them (I never outline)  but let’s face facts.  I was scared to put the words on the page. I grew out of that, but the habits can trickle in your creative pursuits.

Back to the mouse cookie.

Ask a college student when they usually clean their room.  Chances are it is when a project or paper is due. There’s a right frame of mind with their efforts.. I need a clean place to work. I should clean.  Also..I will put off doing this thing (because I don’t want to/it’s hard/I won’t do well/etc)

And so it begins.  The mouse cookie way of writing, for me.

If you give a writer an idea.. she’ll wanna work on it.

When she starts to write it down, she’ll wanna clean her desk, so she can write in the best conditions.

When she cleans her desk, and sits down to write, she’ll wanna get a snack, for “brain food” or so she can really think.

But first she better let the dogs out, so they don’t bug her while she writes.

But there’s a squirrel and now the dogs won’t come inside.

Now she’s got the dogs inside, and she’s going to write!

But first, she better get some water after running around with the dogs.

She should take that water to the desk with her while she writes.

But first she’s gotta find a good mug. And they’re all dirty.So she washes them..so she can get her snack, drink the water and write.

And so it goes. That’s how the cookie crumbles.  (Oh bad pun! Yes!)

And it’s not like I don’t have ideas. I have way too many ideas. I’ve never understood how writers get the question “Where do you get your ideas?”  …How can you NOT get ideas?

Here are the YA idea-cookies that are plaguing my mind, and dwelling in the Someday. Sometime. Somehow.

• Road trip comedy about small town girl with big city dreams – currently working on!
• Girl who knows more about cars than the boys, then finds herself crushing on newest member of auto class.
• My imagined inner world of a notorious historical figure (villain)
• YA set in the time of Roanoke
• Time travel romance melee mixed up crazy
• Teen gangsters
• Young girl deals with death of her family
• High school election drama
• Novel encompassing my love of forensic and crime shows

And I’ll get to these.   ..After I let the dogs out. And clean my desk.

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