Turning, Turning

By Lori

My writing normally doesn't follow seasonal ebbs and flows, but has a cycle all its own. The current downward turn is happening to coincide with the middle of the winter, which is a bummer, because winter on it's own doesn't promote a lot of motivation in general on my part.

So, I have been reading a lot, reviewing books and conducting industry interviews for my blog, seeing movies and giving my brain a chance to incubate some ideas. I'm trying to honor the cycle, in hopes that I can help things along by not getting my undies in a bunch over things.

I'm considering abandoning a story I have outlined because it's not holding my interest. Maybe I'll go back to it another day, or incorporate bits of that plot into whatever I work on next. Nothing is wasted. I have a new idea that is very close to my heart, is but a wisp on the paper as of yet. But perhaps I'll tackle it head on in the weeks ahead. And maybe that will be the upswing for a while, until I have to get quiet again.

And so the circle goes. I keep turning turning turning until, eventually (hopefully) I come around right. . . .

Getting Around to Goals

Lori's

Here are my summer goals, in no particular order:

1. Get a handle on WIP revisions

2. Begin those revisions

3. Declutter finished portion of basement (Paint?)

4. Read The Taming of the Shrew

5. Read a few grown-up books (maybe even a classic?)

The progress on one and two will significantly influence the progress on the rest. A friend of mine says, "Motivation doesn't exist." For a want-to-be-lazy person like myself, this is a helpful philosophy to live by. It takes a certain mysticism out of the accomplishment equation.

Once, when I was on vacation as a kid, we went to one of these souvenir shops where they sell all kinds of useless things including "Round Tuits." These were wooden coins with the words "Round Tuit," printed on them. The joke was, if you're a person who's planning on doing something "when you get around to it," well, here's one for you. No excuses now, by golly, you've got yourself a one hundred percent authentic wooden Round Tuit! I remember the elderly man who sold them getting a real kick out of explaining these valuable "coins" to the unenlightened.

I didn't find it very funny as a child, probably because there wasn't anything I was particularly trying to get around to doing. But now, I kind of wish I'd kept one of those Round Tuits. You know, just in case it would be helpful.