Get outside and see the world.
You have a pad and paper. And a camera, fergawdsakes.
The weather is too nice for you to breathe indoor air.
And who knows what draft-worthy stuff you might find as you cruise the neighborhood…
©copyright Tim Haag
Category Archives: procrastination
Writers Horoscope August 26: Today seek help.
No, not that kind. [Your sanity is not in question.**]
You realize you’re better at ideation and first drafting on paper.
But someone has to digitize that brilliance.
Time for…a virtual assistant.
Always wise to check references, however.
**…yet.
Photo courtesy of http://gratisography.com/
Writers Horoscope August 25 : Today, you’ll have your eyes on a different prize.
© Tim Haag
And you will pay for it.
Three pounds later, 2000 words in arrears, you will resolve to turn it around tomorrow.
You will need twice the willpower to atone for your sins–a day of watercress/kale smoothies and 4000 words [you might as well riff on your day of decadence].
But hey, it was fun while it lasted, right?
Photo courtesy of http://gratisography.com/
Writers Horoscope August 23 : Run your own race. Find your own pace.**
Sure, others will push past you and achieve more notable success.
Look at it this way [yes, it’s Chapter Umpteen in ‘find the positives’.]: You may never have to confront that damnable ‘impostor syndrome’ that creeps up on some folks. And if you keep lip-diddling your way through your one book, you won’t face that fearsome ‘sophomore slump’.
** Yes, sentence 2 was redundant, but I fell victim to the rhyme. So sue me.
Photo courtesy of http://gratisography.com/
Writers Horoscope-July 28
Loved ones will block your progress.
Stand your ground.
Let them know that your work comes first and that guilt trips are counterproductive.
Then go ahead, drop everything, and yield to their every demand.
I should be writing. Instead, I…
…fell prey to a visit to Blueberry Meadows for our annual “‘pickin’ and grinnin’ and bakin’” venture. [Okay, that’s just lame, nor is it a term we’ve ever used, but, according to my wife, it’s safer for all concerned to just humor me and move on as if I’m normal.]
Subconsciously [or consciously–I really have no culinary moral compass], I must have felt I owed it to myself, since yesterday I didn’t give in to my customary saunter through the Farmer’s Market, where I snag a couple of potato flour donuts and a loaf of Altamura bread from Gathering Together Farms.
And if the nice, nice ladies from El Salvador have their griddle warmed up…
you won’t see me turning down a trio of their specialty pupusas.
Not exactly the poster boy for culinary restraint, I admit. [But no worries, we have plans to widen the doorways throughout the house.]
So it was straight to the kitchen after the return home.
[I’d like to claim the pretty, blueberry-infused muffins as mine–“Uh, dear, do you want some batter to go with those blueberries?”–, but those are the work of my wife.
For me, it was time to experiment, as I swirled lemon curd in my half of the batter and I ‘roasted’ some of the berries to bring out the sugar. I sauteéd another handful of berries in a butter/brown sugar/brandy sauce. [In hind-taste, I could have used a bit more brandy.]
Now, for those recipe-writers with the temerity to warn us off the muffins to allow for ‘cool-down’, well, piffle! I mean, why not just grab a fork and dig right into one straight from the pan?
Then again, if you’re one of the effete elite, well, yeah, I guess you probably should wait the whole half-hour so the muffins will come out intact.
Then-then again, with enough batter and a mini-pie plate, compromises can be reached…
For the faint of heart, avert your eyes and cover your ears, everybody, I’m goin’ in!
[Don’t tell my wife. You wouldn’t want to disturb her reading anyway, right?]
Verdict? Plenty moist [the lemon curd helped], plenty of berry flavor, and just enough of the citrus overtone to encourage future experimentation.
I’d better stop eating these little hummers so I’ll be hungry for dinner.
Email Gems: July 17-21
From my Austin Kleon weekly newsletter:
Here [with 2 Years of Exhausting Photographic Detail] Is How to Write a Book by Ryan Holiday
From the newsletter of Jill Badonsky [the author of The Muse Is In]:
“Strengthen Your Tolerance Muscle–To be good at anything in the creative realm you must be able to accept that you’re not instantly perfect or even kinda good. If you don’t have a tolerance muscle, your mission if you want to answer your creative call, is to build it before the skill you are trying to cultivate.”
Writers Horoscope–July 19
Today is the day to find alternative gigs.
Start small. A skywriting company needs a proofreader.
Too ambitious? Seek out that children’s publisher of wordless books.
Writers Horoscope–July 18
Your publishing company is off to a good start.
You’ve tracked down office space. [That spare lumber in the garage needed to be cleared out anyway.]
For those draining 400-word days, you’ll need that footrest. Rex the Wonder Retriever lies at the ready.
And every writer needs face time with an apathetic reader. Your tabby Whiskers is primed to ignore your every word.
Writers Horoscope–July 17
You’re still unpublished.
No worries. Start your own company. Give yourself a signing bonus. [A $10 coffee card ought to do the trick. Knock it down to $5 if the CFO raises a little hell.]
Make it even more realistic. Turn down your own manuscripts. Promptly. And rudely.
Word Inventions 