Because, seriously, I am. Covered in paint, I mean. I have been painting for the past 10 hours. No, not an artistic masterpiece. I’m painting the mudroom.
(We gutted our house in April. It seemed like a good idea at the time. When this project is finished (current projected date: March 2057) I know I’ll be happy. Really.)
The mudroom is a lovely place because it has a floor, and most of its walls, and a little bit of electricity, and a ceiling, though that needs to be spackled. This means the mudroom is far and away the most completed room in the house. And I knew that if I didn’t get SOMETHING finished, I was in danger of losing my mind. This is why I painted for 10 hours today.
It was very therapeutic. And a good thing to do while I was waiting for the Internet to come back online.
Ready… Before your start your 15 minutes of writing today, jot down three unfinished projects in your life. Then pull out your calendar and pencil in the dates when you will finish them.
Set… “Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.” Henry Ward Beecher
Today’s prompt: This is deceptively simple. All you have to do is to write out three short lists. Don’t think about this too much; go with your gut.
List #1 – Write down your top five values.
List #2 – Write down the five things (other than sleep) that take up most of your time.
List #3 – Write down the ways that Lists 1 and 2 coincide and the ways in which they differ. What does that mean for your happiness? For your writing? What specific things can you do between now and the end of the year that will make these lists completely reflect each other?
OR – have your main character write out these lists.
Scribble… Scribble… Scribble…
I have one unfinished project is probably doomed to remain so. When my daughter was in middle school, she wanted me to make her a complicated Fair Isle-ish sweater. She’s now out of college & has grown. I keep trying to figure out a way to salvage it, but that has eluded me.
Can you turn it into a pillow?
Thanks, Laurie for this – I missed a day of writing on Friday due to helping out a friend and cooking dinner and coffee with grandma and and and…I was annoyed until I realised how much writing I’d done this month in comparison to how little I sometimes do. I have (for the most part) kept writing despite most of my time sucks, and have been presented in return with some very captivating thoughts from my characters.
One question I’d like to ask you: when you have what seems like a head full of ideas for not just one novel but perhaps two or three, plus artwork and plot threads for picture books and middle-grade fiction, what would you say is the easiest or most constructive way to sort/clear your mind and put all these inter-scurrying thoughts down on paper?
I’m a little behind on prompts but today is Sunday – the day of rest, or the day of writing. I think perhaps both! It’s encouraging what just fifteen minutes a day uninterrupted creativity can do for my state of mind and in turn for my writing.