Saturday Scribbles – on Sunday 27^th

 

“Don’t ask.”

 

That is my strongly worded, emphatically emphasised, suggestion to anyone who asks how I am doing? what am I up to? would I like to start another group? They have a problem – they have issues…… well so do I…..

 

I have given up having any semblance of organisation in my life – my Partner wanted to know the name of the bomb last week, and I managed to pass a vital test required for my career – by 1 point. I know, a pass is a pass, BUT… that was too close for comfort. 

 

“Nature abhors a vacuum” – never quite got that statement – what would cleaning up a carpet have to do with nature? – mess is natural (allegedly!). But it seems whilst resting a couple of weeks ago I inadvertently fell into another writing project.  

 

I won’t go into lengthy details, but I was cold, got out my “knitting sticks” as Toby calls them and did something about it. Me being me, I then found a website that could organise my hobby, met up with some new friends, started a blog to keep in touch – and now I am writing about it all for a craft company. Ego over sense there – why didn’t I just say no? 

 

Because I CAN do something, doesn’t always mean I SHOULD. That is the moral of this small tale. My hobby which gave me a rest away from the computer has now pulled me back to it and I have another “obligation”. 

 

With your writing – because you CAN – doesn’t always mean you SHOULD. There have been times when I have taken on projects because a) the money came in handy and b) it meant that I could notch up another credit on my writer’s CV.

 

With the benefit of hindsight, I didn’t really need the money – but money, I naively thought at the time meant that someone liked/enjoyed/valued my work, and secondly, it unfortunately meant my CV reflected someone who I wasn’t and I couldn’t understand why I was suddenly attracting a lot of fairly light-weight, non inspirational articles. It was because people thought that was what I did, which is fair enough.    

 

Whilst I bang on about all words being good words – remember that you (and I) have only so much energy and passion to go around. It is important then that that is focused towards the projects that mean something to YOU and reflect who you are and what YOU are trying to achieve in the bigger picture sort of way. 

 

Also take a view on what energises and exhausts you. I love writing small “how to articles” and larger philosophical debates and worksheets, anything which is a problem solved, but I find fluffy stuff and technical articles which require research and deliberation by others debilitating and they tend to get put on the back burner until the very last minute.  

 

The only way I seem to get through them both is by balancing them, so the energy from one carries me through the other. In the meantime though – my current novel or screenplays (by raison d’être for living) are sitting, patiently, awaiting my attention and they are there in the back of my mind like old friends and a reward for being good and getting all my obligatory work done. Except that very often I am too shattered to take my reward and another “duty” hits my desk.

 

Write – write like the wind, but I caution you, make sure that you aren’t too shattered to finish or work on the “masterpiece” of your existence – simply because you have taken on too many other “writerly” obligations. One thing we all need as a writer is space and time to create, so I caution you don’t allow obligations and duties disguised as writing opportunities take that time up – leaving you to exhausted to write for you. 

 

So I would implore you today, If you have fought hard to ring fence some time in your week for your writing – do exactly that – ring fence it for YOUR writing, and not somebody else’s money making project.   In other words – don’t do what I have just done, but do as I say !!!! (ps I am now taking my own advice).

 

Have a good week…

 

Hugs Shani

 

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