Write or Die!

I was having lunch at a swanky locale (read food court), getting my eat on with some pizza and an overcooked bowl of penne, when I was reminded by a rather dapper fellow that I haven't blogged in quite some time.

Now, this is not to say that said dapper fellow hadn't mentioned my tardiness of blogging at some other times- in particular I remember it being a week after my last post that the scoffing began. Understand that said scoffing was coming from someone who already a well established blogger. ((a side note- I am a little groggy, and almost wrote well "endowed" blogger. HA!)) But I need to admit- even for a neophyte (Thank you thesaurus) such as myself- that I was in a bit of a slump. I had, quite honestly, not been inspired by much of anything.

And this is after the Giants won the Superbowl (!) By the way "Shake and Bake" has got to be the best name for the Play ( Manning to Tyree pass play, for you ignoramuses out there.) And yeah, I should trade mark that before some sports geek steals it.

But, lo and behold! For one reason or another, a week and a half ago, I suddenly decide to write. I wish I could tell you why- that there was some sort of serendipity that struck.
I guess that the closest reason I can give as to why I started up again would be...... I ran out of other ways to procrastinate. God Bless you writers strike! But honestly, it just sort of happened. "Organically" as some may put it.

Now, don't misunderstand me. When I say "Writing" I mean "opening up Microsoft Word, and typing about twenty pages of loosely formed ideas that- should all go well, will make a helluva beginning of a story." I really have no idea what would be the "best" way to begin is for a beginner writer. From what I have gathered (thank you Google) is that there really is no common best practice, save just getting down and writing.

The great part for me, is that I think I have laid out almost every detail as to what happens for a compelling story. The awful part is that I am realizing that I have no chops. Actually, that is a complete mischaracterization, because I believe that I put the words "chops" and "I" in the same sentence, while also implying "writing." Now don't get me wrong, I was apparently a great story teller in 4th grade, where Mrs. Hopkins- who was a wonderful woman with entirely too much hairspray and not enough makeup- would gather 'round the class into a reading circle, and all thirty kids would sit- quietly!- bound by my make believe tales- spaceships, monsters, green slime, and mustached villains. Sometimes they were ALL IN ONE STORY. It was frikkin' awesome.

But 4th grade was a long time ago- which must be a surprise to anyone taking note of my punctuation errors ((over/under: 22))

So the point of all this would be- writing is obviously not like riding the ol' ten speed. And I ponder what sort of exercises I could partake so as to sharpen the quill, as it were. More likely than not, I see myself just writing, and retooling, rewriting, editing, etc etc. But I do wonder if there is a better way......

What I have finally discovered/admitted to myself is this: This "work", as it were, for better or worse, is so worth it. Things I see in everyday life become a little more vibrant, as I try to transform something ordinary and mundane into a moment of magic or truth in a story. Although there are some homages...... some entwined history which is part of the work, it is still something uniquely from my head, and it is something that I've wanted to tell- for years now. Hell, even if no one else ever reads it, just the process is fascinating and fulfilling. We are force fed too many things in our lives- being creative like this is liberating, to say the least.

And- to borrow some geekdom from another blog I recently read- 5d12 gp for anyone that can tell me how to say "write or die" in latin.