When my husband changed clothes after work the other night, he walked out of the bedroom and asked, “Why do you have ‘eyes’ and ‘whole world’ written on the bathroom mirror? The answer, of course, was simple. A great line had come to me while I showered, so I had written those words with eyeliner as a reminder!
Are we writers ever not writing? Don’t you all have plot ideas, titles, and bits of dialogue written on paper scraps, notebooks, or napkins? Is part of your brain rephrasing dialogue as you watch a movie, or line editing as you read a novel, or screeching every time you run across a typo online? Do you weigh the short story value of anecdotes shared in conversation? Does that panhandler in the median inspire a poem? Did that women behind you in line just spout the funniest line of dialogue you’ve heard in ages?
Hmmm … are we writers all suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder?
I can state -- almost unequivocally -- that the title of this blog does not refer to my mental state. It refers to my writing, which does, of course, flow out of my mind. Sometimes the process of writing is messy, sometimes weird, sometimes beautiful -- and always harder than I wish, but I love it. As I wander back into the real world from time to time, I hope to entertain you with my musings.
I have just finished writing a novel titled The Brevity of Roses.
10 Comments
10 January, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Every time I have an idea I have to write it down and wash my hands at the same time… they are not as mutally exclusive as they seam to be.
10 January, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Not only do I write things on scraps of paper, but sometimes while reading, the author will invoke a feeling or touch a nerve and inspire a memory of mine to write down. But I won’t have anything to write on so I’ll dog ear the page. More often than not, I never get around to my paper scraps and later I’ll pick up the book and re-read the page and … nothing. I’ll scan every line hoping to get back my inspiration of something great that passed through my brain, but it’s gone, gone, gone.
10 January, 2009 at 9:50 pm
I do the same thing, Tricia, only I just use something for a bookmark. Then I read and read hoping to remember why I marked the page.
11 January, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Yes, I now have “post” disorder too. Every time my kids do something, I think, oh, that would make a great post. My poor children. LOL
12 January, 2009 at 9:54 am
Kasie, Blog posts are the hardest. I feel like I’m talking to myself. I think I’ll invent someone to write blog posts to. Then, I won’t be so self-conscious. Come to think of it, then, I might never shut up!
12 January, 2009 at 3:39 pm
o my yes! you sent me a note via my website and so i came to have a look see at your blog…i have found a kindred spirit for sure – love the eyeliner on the mirror!
13 January, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Stacy, thank you for stopping by. Hey, everybody, check out Stacy’s marvelous collection of short stories, Surviving Nashville.
15 January, 2009 at 9:42 am
Yep, I used to have a tiny book of blank paper (Hello Kitty if you must know), and whenever one of those ideas popped up, I’d stop and write it down. That was years ago though, I haven’t figured out where that thing went to. Dog-earing the pages of books is a horrible thing…resist it Tricia.
15 January, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Jess, that would drive me nuts. I’d obsess, sure that my best ideas or lines of dialogue were in that lost book.
15 January, 2009 at 3:36 pm
eh, it’s probably in an old purse in my closet. Or in Sophia’s toys. When I need it, it will show up. Life is good that way – very twilight zone – but good.