Focus on the real work

You might have noticed I've gone back to my original layout of this blog. It's almost the same one I had when I originally started writing here at this spot. The header is a picture of all my handwritten notes that happened to be on my desk at the time. My glasses are in the corner because I don't need them for close up work and reading. Okay, yes, all of it was sort of staged for the picture. But everything is all real and still appears this way on some occasions. My desk will be covered in handwritten notes, pens, pencils, glasses, flash drives,calendars, and note cards. It turned into how I would work instead of the staged representation it started out to be.

There must be a lesson learned somewhere in my reflecting on the past that made me go back to the beginning. There are times you can get so far along on your journey that you forget the reasons you started out in the first place. You go so far into what you are doing, it becomes such a routine, you keep on doing it and lose track of all it meant except the doing. You can travel very far this way but when it loses purpose it's time to stop and think about it. So I did and went back to originals to find out why I started.

Somewhere along the way my ideas changed. They moved in a different direction from what I was doing in the beginning  as sometimes they should. I changed my header picture, changed text, then removed it completely. It was part of the journey. My desk became more cluttered with handwritten notes of ideas. It all seemed to be clicking along at a good pace. But soon all it became was an accumulation of nothing. It was a collection of fragments, pieces, and bits that didn't come together in any way except for the routine, to keep on doing. It was a misdirection that made it seem as if I was really doing something when I wasn't. So I stopped. I thought. I cleared my desk and spent time, not on writing down any more ideas for what I could do, but going back to see where I started and why. It was so I could get to the real work.

The idea was never to write snatches of ideas on paper. It was to write entire thoughts, entire stories. It's too easy to get caught up and get purposely distracted by the bits and fragments. It gives you the false feeling to doing the work when you're not. So I cleared my desk of all the unrelated notes and threw them out. The focus is back with a stronger sense of where I am and where to go from here.

The original header is a reminder of where my focus was at the start since I seem to forget when I get busy. I'm well ahead along on this path. I'm no longer at the beginning but I'm no longer willing to wander around lost. It's good to sit still and find that purpose again in order to find a stronger stride.

My desk is cleared. 

TT

After Just Write is Just Work

I never started writing with any expectations. If anything, I tried to avoid thoughts of being published. It was too much to consider I could ever achieve that lofty a goal. Those thoughts were pushed to the very back of my mind. I told myself to never think about something that will never happen.

But at the beginning, I couldn't help but imagine writing that piece of work that would skyrocket to the top. It would be so brilliant it would be snatched up and rise to immediate popularity. The first words I put down were so good. It was an honest feeling. I was so attached and excited about the fact I put all these words down that they must be excellent. Except they weren't. Some were very good. Some were brilliant, like I thought, but many were not brilliant. Some weren't even good. Many were downright bad but it's hard to see through all the emotional excitement. 

I would feel foolish about so much of it when it was re-read. It was awful, I can't. 

Then the realization dawned. It takes work. Those words you've written are only the beginning. Detach yourself from the crush you have on your own words and get to the real work at hand. This takes time and effort. First words are not the end. Yes, it's taken a while to get them all down and that is what everyone says to do. Just write. But you need to understand that isn't the end. You haven't finished and you've only begun at that point. Now the work starts and if you can't get beyond that thought, it will go nowhere no matter how much you have done so far. If you stop there, then you have reason to feel foolish.

So I've written some pieces. Next step is to get to work.

TT

Writing: An Enjoyable Challenge

I purposely stopped writing here for a while. I've done a bit of reflecting. Correction. I've done plenty of reflecting but that covers more subjects that I need to discuss in this space. In particular, I've given some thought to this blog.

I started this blog with the intention of getting myself to simply put words down on a page. I had the problem of never getting past a few paragraphs because I would continually edit those paragraphs to the point of never writing any more. This was a discipline for me to stop the editing and just get the words down. It's worked and I went off and wrote about anything and everything and then I got lost. I needed to pause a moment and figure it out again. So I went back to the beginning.

I know what you are thinking. Yawn. But I'm not going into all the unnecessary details about how, what, and why of all this thinking. I'll spare everyone the tiring past of the conflicting thoughts and impressions that have been in my mind. Let's stay with the present. Not yesterday or what went on before, but the here and now. Let's stay in the present. Today.

I questioned myself and asked why keep writing? The answer was pretty simple. I enjoy writing. It's a hobby, a pastime, an enjoyable challenge. I don't have any high expectations of where it will take me but that was never the intention. It was the idea of sitting down and writing thoughts right now. It was to get past more than two paragraphs without stopping.

So why stop.
TT