New Blank Document
I react one of two ways when I click on New Blank Document, not all that often with dread, most times with a head rush, because I can’t get busy typing fast enough to suit my need to purge. My best ideas often come to me while I’m hanging out in that half-conscious zone between wakefulness and sleep. On occasion I have a dream so amazing that I can only hope to remember the gist of it the next morning, hastily jotting down the highlights on scratch paper before forgotten. Last night I dreamt up an amazing saga chock full of vibrant characters and wild plot turns. My dream was so wonderful I forced myself to wake up and rush over to the computer to write down a rough outline. Needless to say, the nightly arrival of inspirational ideas and visions does tend to hinder the likelihood of a getting a good night’s sleep. I hold on to the belief that God invented coffee for us possessed creative types.
Another purpose served by clicking on New Blank Document, I’m able put off those pesky mundane tasks like paying bills, sweeping the garage, going for that much needed walk, or planning dinner in good conscience. Once I click on that header I am compelled to compose something worthwhile before hitting command save—a little something worthy of neglecting real life—utterly and wholeheartedly compelled.
I keep a folder marked Ideas & Notions. It’s full of snappy and not-so-snappy titles, notes, scarcely started stories, inspiring quotes and sentences. When my mind needs to be nudged into gear I will venture into that Ideas & Notions file, poke around to find something that hits me between the eyes, and presto, a path of interest is discovered.
This confession may lead to trouble, but I'll go ahead and divulge my ugly little secret anyway, I don’t encounter writer’s block all that often. I’m a middle-aged woman, thrilled to be here holed up in my office and able to spin yarns. Thrilled.
All Rights Reserved. © 2009 by Elizabeth Bradley.
6 comments:
As an artist a new sheet of paper or a new canvas is much like your New Document - something to become excited about!
I have never understood those artists who say they're intimidated by an empty canvas - all I've ever seen there are possibilities.
Like you I keep a file like Ideas & Notions for my many projects - I also record ideas on my cell phone - at my age things tend to slip away if you don't immortalize them in words someway.
I have experienced writer's block in the past. But with experience comes wisdom. Life's too short to dilly dally.
Dilly dally, I love that word, lol.
Love your blog. You have some great ideas and I like the title of your file. Do blogging ideas go into that file too?
I have a file for blogging called BLOGS. Clever, isn't it? lol.
Yes, a blogging file is a very original idea. Believe it or not, I have too many different ones going, that I can't find which one to look at.
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