Wednesday, September 10, 2014

cool air and some manic rambling regarding motivation

It is a beautiful fall day here in Wyoming.  Perfect temperature for opening all of the windows and doors while I sit around in a jacket and enjoy the cool air coming through the house.  Tomorrow, there's a 60% chance of light snow - yes, in early September - and I cannot wait.  Of course, it most likely won't snow and everyone will have to listen to me complain about how the weather forecasts are never right.  But for now, I love this feeling; fall coming on, a cold front pulling in, the leaves starting to turn enough so that they hiss and crackle in the breeze...

Fall always makes me a bit manic.  This week, I'm all over the place.  Cheating.  Anything to keep me from actually writing.  Today, a long morning coffee break, web browsing (I should seriously cut off all net connection.  I'd have probably finished five novels by now...), updating my Goodreads, reading my Facebook feed (a few times), running errands that could probably wait, catching up on e-mail, reorganizing my hard-copy submission files (I am helpless at keeping things updated electronically - it's old-school for me or I'd be even more of a mess), playing with the cats...  I've been up about 7 hours or so and I have basically accomplished nothing at all.  If I was my boss, I would be in serious danger of losing my job.  Oh, wait....

I suppose I still find myself waiting for my muse far too often.  Sure, I know that success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration - that's the cliché I'm looking for, right?  But, yeah... I know it.  And I put the mantra through its paces.  Just do it.  All you have to do is write.  Or my favorite, from Sharon Doubiago's workshops back in the day:  Just don't lift your pen from the paper:  Don't.  Stop.  Writing.  Maybe that's what I need for motivation - a professor to give me homework.  I'm obviously not too great at being my own boss.

So, here we go...  I've finished a short little blog post for the day.  The sun is higher in the sky - a little solar warmth mixed in with the cold air.  I'm done cheating for the day.    At least for now.  Let's do this thing.

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