I think that I suffer from some sort of attention deficit disorder. Not to make light of this, if any of you suffer from it, but on a daily basis my attention wanders. I make mental goals for myself – clear off my desk, finish this paper work, call so and so – and then it happens. A scene pops into my head and in that moment all else is forgotten. I play out the scene from beginning to end with dialogue included. I run through it a few times to burn it into my memory so that when I sit down at my computer I can recreate the scene as best I can.
My goal for this weekend is to get the office work done so that July will start with a clean slate. This goal lasted twenty minutes before an idea for a book cover popped into my head. I emailed Katherine Auty and asked her to put something together. She did. Not quite satisfied with what she found for me, I searched the web myself, looking for that one picture that would pop out at me and tell me that it was The Book Cover photo for me. I found it. Then I emailed my find to Katherine. That job was now safely in her hands, leaving me free to carry on with my work.
I went upstairs to brush my teeth. A dialogue ran through my head. Yes! I have to put that in the second chapter – bathtub scene, talking about love, marriage, games. I run it through my head with every brush stroke and spit. Finished, I go downstairs, change a load of laundry and then head back to my office. I’ve forgotten the exact wording of my dialogue, but I find the chapter and the page where I want to insert the scene. I don’t know how much time has passed, but I know it’s substantial. My office work still remains unfinished.
I stop working to run some errands. I return home exhausted. I lie down for a power nap and the scene revisits me with improvements. I fall asleep thinking of airplanes and phone calls. I wake up and head downstairs. The tv is on. The Blue Jays are playing in Boston. My son and his buddies are in Boston to see the game as part of his bachelor weekend away. I watch the game, hoping that I might see the gang and quickly forget about airplanes and phone calls and watch the game for four hours.
Katherine sends me an email with two potential cover designs. Yes! We have a winner. Now I know I’m committed to the story line if I use that cover. More incentive to get writing. Supper is finished, Philip is at the barn checking on something, and so I head downstairs to my computer. Instead of writing, I become distracted. I check my emails, Facebook postings and play a game or two of Solitaire Blitz. Maroon 5 is playing on my iTunes. I’m now in the mood to write. It’s time.
But wait. I haven’t blogged in awhile. I’d better post something. What should I write about? I don’t know. I let my mind wander. . .
It looks like it worked. I have my blog. Now it’s time to get back to my story. Bathtub and games or airplanes and phone calls? I’ll see what happens if and when I get there.
