Stephanie Writes A Story

I will do just about anything to avoid work sometimes. For instance, I have been in the process of writing a new short story and in the last hour I've done the dishes, reorganized the fridge in what I convinced myself to be a more efficient method, made myself some tea, had a snack while watching an episode of Avatar, and now, finally, this.

And in doing all of those tasks, which any other day would constitute as productive, I keep hearing Ron Carlson in the back of my head. Ron Carlson, amongst other things, is the author of the book Ron Carlson Writes A Story. Appropriate title, isn't it? In this book, Carlson details how, in one sitting, he completed a rough draft of a story.

(photographed: tunnel)

(Because I always need a picture, there's a picture of a tunnel. Draw whatever tortured metaphor out of the cliche "light at the end of the tunnel" you need, but it was a purely random photo choice to go with a random post.)

There was one particular tip throughout this entire book that I found useful and kept echoing through my mind despite my efforts to quiet it: don't leave the room. Okay, so in this case, that tip doesn't make much sense. What it's meant to translate to is: don't get up from wherever it is that you're writing, not even to get refreshments/coffee/etc. Carlson says that it is within this vital period that the heart of your story can grow and your mind really begins to work.

So, why the **** am I still sitting here? Because bad habits die hard (if ever). But I'm determined to finish this story. So, after this post, no more distractions and I WILL finish.

I apologize for how random this is. Sometimes writing nonsense like this helps me grind through what's hard about starting to write and eases me into the writing itself.