After beginning a clunker of a post, which sits in draft exuding hope thick as bus exhaust, I felt the need to refresh, that is to say, develop, something close to reliably consistent descriptive writing. If that's not possible, I have no back-up plan.
The only actual writing teacher I ever studied with had a label, refrigerator words, that included: large, cold, dark, pretty, young, words that, by themselves, fall short of creating an image. My brain has a setting - auto selected - in which everything intended to be creative goes flat and I begin channeling a Stepford wife who majored in refrigerator words.
It has been nearly two years since whatever angels hover around my left ear suggested that I find, in bloglandia, more writers. I found them/you and one link led to the next. I was given the breadcrumb trail to other writers whose names I might never have known, books of which I could have remained ignorant, music too far outside my sphere to have been discovered any other way. If we are sent messages from the universe, affirmations that, contrary to our crippling doubts, we are going in the right direction, I received a large one, as in five-pound, double-layered, heart-shaped box of See's candy, that morning.
For today I decided against the Colin Farrell clip in which he talks about writing poetry, my gift to myself as I grapple with the possibility that this blog is on its way to becoming 45% fanzine. It would have been helpful, illuminating, to have examples of my favorite descriptive passages. I was ill-prepared and knew I'd be distracted by something shiny if I tried to find those samples mid-post.
I may play with assignments such as we were given in the writing workshop. I may start with things that are shiny.
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15 comments:
That's why I took on the A to Z - as motivation to get myself writing each day. This I do, but my writing is so stilted and blah that I should be ashamed to hit publish, and yet I do for some sort of masochistic charge. Lately I've been wishing someone would come into my life to tell me what to do. Like you, I feel a need for an "assignment".
Rubye - First, having just visited several of your A to Z posts, I would call them clearly written, not stilted or blah. More importantly, they are honest, true to your authentic thoughts and nature and, based on the number of comments you draw, I believe readers find meaning in what you write. You not only gave yourself the A to Z assignment, but you are following through steadily, thoughtfully. A daydreaming mind may not signal ADHD but imagination and hearing the call of voices not everyone can recognize. I admire your openness and consistency. You seem to be doing fine. xo
Sometimes my mind can't handle reading and finds it a chore to catch up. Yesterday I spend a goodly amount of my day on YouTube. Maybe I needed the break.
it's Ok to be flat.
let the field lie fallow for a while so the worms can do their thing and make richness of your soil.
I love that-refrigerator words, words that leave you cold. Good reminder. And yes, I have a community of writers on-line. I follow them faithfully. They make me laugh and think and they kick-start my own efforts.
Gratitude-NARW (not a refrigerator word)
XX Beth
Robert - I can spend so, so much time on You Tube, the easiest place to fritter that I know. Keeping up, or even coming close, with favorite bloggers challenges me every day. Still working on that balance of enough time, enough focus.
Denise - Worms and soil, the human mind and staring at clouds (and we have some today, thinning behind newly-leafed trees). It is not always easy to know the difference between under-motivated and restocking the shelves. xo
Beth - I would be working, or trying to, in a vacuum without my band mates in the blog universe. (I've either forgotten or do not know NARW. Could you help me with that?) xo
you've kept me and held me with your words, both in your blog and in your comments. good writing like yours comes first from your relationship with life away from the page. the way you bring it to the page has been a blessing so many times for me. thank you!
sherry
I always feel less anxious knowing I have the ability to re-write. It helps me (in theory) overcome the refrigerator words or fearing that I'm using refrigerator words. I know when I come back I can change them to something better. I think it was Richard Hugo who mentioned something about - look behind you, there's no one there. I scare myself into thinking I have nothing to say, no good way to say it, but to stop oneself before starting is creative impotence at its worst. I have been afflicted numerous times.
xo
NARW-Not A Refrigerator Word
Ha!
Sherry - Thank you. To have participated in a blessing is fuel enough to keep me on the road for the next leg of the journey. xo
Rachel - I'll hold onto Richard Hugo's advice. The only one there is us, and ghost voices of the cumulative critics. Rewriting is the best do-over, the big second chance. Knowing we will survive being inexpert or foolish or unwise does let us risk being those things. I picture sitting and trying to formulate a theory on how to skip without ever having tried it. xo
Beth - There is not a font large enough for my DUH! response. Thank you for the patience to walk me over and introduce me to NARW. Sometimes, unbeknownst to myself, I wander off. xo
Lisa - Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment, such an encouraging comment. xo
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