A Good Friday Wrap

The week flew by, didn't it? I started two different posts I wanted to share with you. Somehow my writer and editor selves got all tangled up trying to create and edit all at the same time. Soon the postings were all tangled up too. And so neither got finished, as we have some untangling to do.

Does that ever happen to you? You start with a simple, but lovely idea that you want to post about and then somehow it turns complicated? You start adding too much, then it gets too heavy and now you've got more ideas creeping in that could wait for another posting. And you wonder how you got off track. So while I weed out the extraneous, let me give you some snippets from my week.

It was my birthday yesterday. Had a lovely day with hubby. Rick took me out for a very nice lunch and we strolled through our local conservatory to take in the spring displays. Plus, we visited our local art gallery for a joyful look at the work of two amazing glasswork artists, Susan Rankin and Manola Borrajo, both from Canada.

It's been snowing. I'm not joking. Seriously too. Not just a few flakes. Tell me, somebody please, did I tear off too many calendar pages too soon, and it really is only February? The birds migrating into town this past week seem a little disoriented.  The Canada Geese are sitting atop frozen ponds looking forlorn. The juncos, usually feeders on the ground, couldn't find any seeds as they were all covered with the white stuff. So we tromped out there to throw some seeds around for them to peck through.

The memoir story is coming along. We have almost finished Week 2 of the little 30-day challenge to write 750 words per day, every single day, no matter what. I happily report that the momentum has been building, and some days I've not only met the quota but nearly tripled the amount. Celebration time, my dear friends. 

This is what I found works for She Who Tends To Get Easily Overwhelmed and Distracted:

1. Her goal is small enough not to feel pressured but big enough to stretch just a little.

2. Because it's small, she can do this every single day ... no matter what else is going on.

3. She is focusing on being a writer in this freefall first draft. The self-editor voice who felt it was her place to look over her shoulder as she typed to help 'fix' things... well, God bless her, the writer finally locked the door on her and kindly told her that her turn will come later and to just go relax with a coffee or something. Eat some cake, for pete's sake.

4. She remembers something she read on one site: write your first draft as quickly as possible. The whole thing. The author shared a insider tip on how to separate the newbies from the veterans. "The latter race through the first draft while the first timers belabor every word, parse thrice every phrase, and start again and again and again." ~ Gordon Burgett

5. She found a copy of Steven Pressfield's book The War of Art in which the author talks about pushing through the resistance we all face and to start acting like a professional about her writing -- which means showing up every day and getting her goal done, no matter what.

* * *

That's a little of what's been going on with me. Now I take a moment to wish those of you who are commemorating and celebrating the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, a truly blessed and meaningful weekend of reflection and celebration.

Sending you sprigs of joy and peace,
Brenda
xox