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Hiking to the back porch |
That sounds good, doesn’t it? My backpack.
You think I’m about to set off on a hiking adventure through the
Everglades of Florida, fighting alligators and mosquitoes. No, you don’t think that, because you’ve been
reading The Mess since its birth and you know I would only hike from my porch
to the bathroom and the only thing I ever fight off is the urge to
exercise. So, you’re baffled why a sedentary
person as myself would even own a backpack.
You’re probably thinking it’s one of those coffee table things to
initiate conversation at a social party, except I don’t own a coffee
table. No. This backpack is my desk. I know that answer is anti-climatic, but I’m
a rather boring individual, so you should expect the anti-climatic.
I had an office at one time with a real desk. Actually, I had it three times, but Fate
believes I write better out of a backpack.
When we moved into our current home, Nathan decided it was his time to
leave the nest and moved out. At that
point, I received my first full blown office with a door and closet and
everything. Then, he moved back in and
my office went to the garage. However,
he then decided to get married and moved back out again and my office was
pulled out of cardboard boxes and restored.
Chris was the next to venture out on his own and my office was
supersized and moved into the larger room.
Alas, that didn’t last long as we decided to move Sarah and Dylan in and
I lost even the smaller office option.
My office went into a backpack and laptop bag, and I now carry both
everywhere, even to the grocery store, just to drive the girls crazy.
It was my pack that was calling me away from catching up on
my recorded shows. Inside are my drafts,
stories that I have begun because I couldn’t get the story out of my head and
the characters were screaming for attention.
Fictional characters are like actors and can be such divas, at times,
spoiled brats, which make the 8-year old seem like a quiet wallflower. Therefore, like I did with my boys when they
were younger, I have to stop and give them some attention, working out the
scenes that keep me company as I drift off to sleep. Currently, it is home to nine partial drafts,
some further along than others. With Reaping the Harvest almost done, these
other storylines are now calling me back to play with them, two in particular.
While waiting for a response from an agent or publisher or
while the editor is taking a corrective pen to your prose and plot, the best
thing for a writer to do is to begin with the next story. In my case that would be nine stories, but
some are collections of essays so it’s not like I’m trying to maintain a
timeline or plot. Nine drafts. That doesn’t include the outlines and future
plot ideas scribbled into my Day Planner.
I’ve been storing up ideas for years and now they all want to be brought
forth at the same time. I can hear them
screaming for words every time I unzip the pack.
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A few of my WIPs |
It might not be the best way to write, but it’s the way that
works best for me. The story transforms
as I write and I inevitably have to return and correct some pieces and drop or
add characters. Basically, it’s my
outline and I fill in the missing pieces on the second draft which is what
others would call their first. It is how
I handle my distractions and keep writing, and I am easily distracted. However, those first attempts at a story continue
until I have reached the published piece, constantly being polished along the
way, so that, hopefully, my editors won’t waste too much red ink.
One thing is for sure.
I’ll never become bored or lack company.
There are hundreds of people in my backpack to keep me busy.
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For Further Reading ~ Someone Stole My Time
Thanks for visiting The Mess!
Hi Robbie!!! Thank you for yet another interesting glimpse into your life and process. I think that as creative people, we all have to find that groove that works for us. In your case it is taking the backpack office and going while for me, I have to limit the distractions even more. I plant myself in my home office, put on the headphones and type. If I leave the house, the distraction level increases exponentially, even worse than you with the butterflies...lol. Very interesting that you have many WIPs at once..I like it. Hope you had a great day at the office...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Stephanie, and I did. It was a great day for words. I hope yours was just as good. I have mixed days of whether distractions bother me or not. Sometimes, I'm the distraction lol. Thanks for visiting and commenting.
DeleteThis was my first visit to your site, Robbie. I really enjoyed the stay and will definitely be back for more. You have me hooked with your entertaining style of writing blog posts. May you continue to have many conversations with your beloved characters. Write on!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the kind words, Rob! And I'm glad I have you hooked. Thanks for visiting and commenting.
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