Day: August 30, 2021

Musing: Hairbands


I started to let my hair grow before the pandemic hit.  It has gotten quite long. I keep spending money on things to keep it out of my face.  Pony tail holders, barrettes, etc.  The one thing I really want is a hairband that works as well as my glasses.

Not one hairband stays in my hair. My glasses do, though. Putting my glasses atop my head is a bad habit, I know. It stretches the bows (temples) so the glasses don’t fit the face as well. I know this. But the top of my head is a convenient place to store my glasses with the bonus of working as an excellent hair band that actually works.

Someone with more know-how than I have should invent a hairband that uses the same premise as eyeglasses.

MJ Monday-Motivation: Solitaire as a Plotting Device

I know I’ve written about my habit of playing solitaire while thinking about my books, but I’ve recently learned this practice is instinctive use of how my brain is wired.

This year I was unable to participate in writing retreats due to COVID-19. I found another way to work on my professional development. Now some people consider my involvement in this group a cult, and maybe it is. I do pay to take classes and have individual coaching. But I’m learning so much about myself as a person, and that also means me as a writer. I’m starting to understand the whys of the way I am and why I do things the way I do. Why I react a certain way in specific situations.

The person who runs these classes also has a series of FREE You Tube videos. Here’s the link to the one that explains my need to play solitaire while I’m plotting. It’s short–20 minutes or so–but revealing.

Playing solitaire (or hand-held Yahtzee, another favorite of mine) is a legitimate writing strategy. Who knew?

 

Office Update-July

I have made significant progress in my office reclamation/redo project. I completely cleared out the area in the hall where the printer and all the old RWRs sat.

Next, I tackled one of two bookcases belonging to my husband that reside in my space.

The book case hid behind the door, and was literally crammed to the ceiling.

Cleaning it off took an entire Saturday.  And yes, the shelves are warped. Replacing the bookcase isn’t in the budget right now.

The bookcase now resides in the hall where the old magazines and printer once took up space.  It took the good chunk of a Sunday afternoon to move all the books.

As the bookcase is not only taller, but more solid than the printer stand, it seems as if there is less room in hall, but that’s an optical illusion. The bookcase is actually narrower than the printer stand. It just takes some getting used, especially when coming out of our bedroom.

But it’s done!

Office Update

I’m making slow but steady progress in my quest to redo my office.  I’m cleaning out stuff that should have been cleaned out ages–even decades–ago.

Example. I had over twenty years worth of old Romance Writers Report magazines that I mean to go through, tear out articles I wanted or wanted to save because I’d finaled in a contest or something. That project was at least four years old with no progress. There were also six years worth of RWA national conference handouts in spiral notebooks. I had these stacked in the hall outside my office.

It took a couple of weeks, but I tossed it all.

I have plans for that space in the hall, so I needed to start clearing.

Step 1: done.

I

 

MJ Monday-Motivation: Journaling

I periodically get away from journaling, but eventually return to doing it. Some people call it Morning Pages; others have different names for it. The main character in Diary of a Mad Housewife referred to her journal as “Accounts”.

Whatever you call it, sometimes writing out everything helps. I find that my “secular” life, if you will, tends to clog the creative flow. Writing down my frustrations, expressing my rage, even recording those special good times helps purge the blocks. Once those thoughts are gone, consigned to paper, my brain is free to focus on my stories.