I had a to-do list and went through it methodically, knowing that if I stayed to my schedule, by Thursday, today, I'd have Nothing Required of Me To Do. And I did stay to it. And today, having Nothing Required of Me To Do, meant a free, relaxing, day which I filled with nonsensical things like buying new flip flops, hanging out on the circle's lawn with other 'hood peeps talking about being happy, the state of happiness, Buddhism, and funny documentaries not related to Buddhism or happiness at all.
Today was quite relaxing.
As I type this, for instance, I'm so relaxed, that I find my husband's cat Sir Cogsley's, fascination with the clicking of the keyboard and the cursor moving on the screen amusing, so amusing that I'm not even bothered by the fact his curiosity means he sat his big fluffy butt right in front of the computer screen and I can't really see what I'm typing, unless I cock my head to the right and peer around his extraordinarily long whiskers.
I managed to write a paltry 852 or so words today, which is better than Monday's paltry 502 or so words. This is fine, it's always like this for me at the beginning of a story or book. The first week or two into it drags ridiculously, and suddenly, about three weeks in, the story really just takes off, and I can write for much longer, mindful, of course, that I only have limited time to write. Gone, for now, are the days when I could write for three or four hours at a stint and not need to be up til midnight to accomplish it. I do dream though! The best writing advice I ever got, and will ever give, is the only thing required of a writer to write, to truly be successful, is to show up at the page. That's it. Show up at the page. Write. Go from there. Once you show up to the page, and put words on it, the story begins to unfold, and, if you know what it is the story means to accomplish, it will write itself.
I did accomplish something on my Nothing Required of Me To Do day, though. I accomplished getting instruments for Turbo and Bear, and lessons. All in under 40 minutes. See how ridiculously efficient I can be?
I'd already scoped out the instruments, and knew that Turbo was getting an acoustic guitar. I knew, also, that Bear would most likely gravitate to drums, which he did, despite his going on randomly about the violin. I just don't think a violin is a good instrument for a kid who wants to be in a rock-n-roll band. He really wanted the African-style drums, but I told him to start with the normal snare drum, and then if he's still interested in three to six months, we'll pick up the other style drum. We rented his drums, but bought the guitar. Drums are... priccceeeyyyy. He then spent most of the time playing the xylophone bit of the drum kit. Hilarious.
We had our first gorgeous spring day today, well, okay, second. April is a month of wacky weather here. We'll have gorgeous days that tease you into thinking the days of warmth are here to stay, followed by cold rainy days, and occasionally, a snow storm. April. Such a tease.
Ah writing. I find the more I write, then the more I write. How... something!
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