Thursday, December 2, 2010

Writing (Reverb10, Day Two)

Day Two: Writing
What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?

__

I do a lot of things, daily, that don’t directly contribute to my writing. I drink coffee, watch TV online, read other people’s blogs in my GoogleReader, stalk my favorite news sites, and I coach dance team. When I’m doing those things, I’m not writing.

Except, I am. I eavesdrop on a conversation in a restaurant and write a blog post in my head about how tragic-comic the couple in question is. I have composed in my head, but never posted, the many dramas that threaten to overtake my teenage dancers’ lives and in turn, all of our practices. Then I weed out the good ideas from the bad, and sit down to pound the good ones into blog entries.

Personally, I find inspiration in seemingly random happenings, stories, facts that can be strung together to make a bigger point. When I write, it's probably based on an idea I've been working out in my head for a few days or more (except my desperate posts on how much I love coffee. Those are always spontaneous). I’m not sure that cutting anything out would be beneficial to my writing, although I am working to cut out crap I don’t need in order to better serve my own well-being.

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6 comments:

jeanne hewell-chambers said...

so nice to meet a fellow eavesdropper!

Unknown said...

This is totally valid. As writers, we need to always be open to inspiration but closed off to things that will cloud our vision. I wrote something along those lines too.

Greta said...

so glad you're back. the blog world is just not the same without you.

Gina Marie said...

Jeanne - I can't imagine my life w/o eavesdropping!

Thanks, Gret, once I saw you joined up I knew I couldn't miss out.

Shenee - what is your blog? I can't seem to find you!

Habbala said...

Inspiration totally comes from a million different things.


No, he DID NOT call. BUT I know he reads my blog cause I have the statcounter thing installed, so I SEE HIM LOOKING... and then acting like he doesn't know.

Gina Marie said...

Habbala -

Oh the blog counter. If only I had a penny for each time I checked it to see who was stalking me. I hear you girl, and I hope he does call.

Or that someday you have enough cocktails that you can say "Listen, Sitemeter (or whatever service you use) tells me what you cannot." Because that wouldn't freak him out AT ALL.