When Writing Doesn’t Come

Some days, writing doesn’t come. I can’t just sit down and work on a story, even though I have words pressing into my fingers, wanting to come out, wanting to play. But I don’t know what they are, what story they belong to, or how to let them out.

On those days, sometimes, if I can sit and write, or type, without really thinking about it, letting my mind be quiet, watching the trees out the window, I can let the words come without looking too closely at them, as if, if I did, I’d spook them. They’re shy and deep and need encouragement but not too much staring, like a shy child who wants to be close but isn’t quite sure how to manage it.

Today, in the darkness of impending torrential rains, and the noise of the framers next door working on the second story floor, trying to get as much done as they can before lightning sends them for cover, I long to write. I’ve not been writing much for weeks, as I struggle to regain a writing mind after a too-long cold, a hack-up-a-lung cough, and a mental lethargy that makes thinking through anything a challenge.

Today, energy is stirring, at the base of my spine, in my throat, in my fingers – groping, searching for a way out, words looking for a story. And yet the story eludes me, and instead, I write this.

Maureen

The Texture of Beauty

There’s something about roses as they begin to decay that I find exquisitely beautiful – something I can feel on my tongue, not as a taste, but as a texture of beauty.

Maureen

Evernote and Scrivener

My organizational frenzy has faded away, as quickly as it arrived. But it has pushed me to continue to organize (reluctantly, I must admit). I have a new filing cabinet being delivered next week, which will give me enough space to organize the endlessly breeding piles of paper, and save me from scraping my knuckles trying to pry folders out of the crowded drawers.

I’m also organizing all my bits and pieces that I collect on the computer into Evernote.

An illustrator friend mentioned Evernote, after I went on and on about the joys for Scrivener, for writers. I think that Evernote is her illustrator-equivalent. Now I love it too. It’s like Stickies on the Mac, except the notes and images can be organized into notebooks. I tend to collect bits ­– ideas and images, story moments – usually in a tangle of files or slips of paper. Now I can dump them all into Evernote and then ignore them or browse them or pull out something when I’m ready to work on a story.

Of course, what I really want to be doing is writing. But writing in chaos distracts me – the time I spend organizing now will help me spend less time on admin work, and be quieter and more focused on writing, which is always where I want to be.

Maureen