I have to write a blog? No. I didn't sign up for that. Nobody told me that was required. When did I agree to do this? I just want to write a novel. “I don't want to be a pirate!”
Writing a blog post is possibly one of the more grueling tasks for me. As you may remember from my introductory post, I don’t think of myself as a writer. Yes, I know, I’m writing a novel. But I don’t think of that as writing. That’s more like getting stories out of my head. Writing a blog though, now that is writing. And I draw a blank more often than not on what to write.
I thought about why people write blogs and decided that one big reason is to teach. An individual (or team of individuals) who are skilled at something want to teach others about that skill. Or they want to educate on a topic. I have some very talented friends in that category. I learn something new from them on a daily basis. But what do I have to teach? As it relates to writing my novels, I would say nothing. I am a Grade A novice. A beginner. Student. #Newbie
I can direct you to the masters I am learning from, many of which are with WANA. And you will find me sitting there, at their feet, soaking it all in.
One thing in particular that I learned from this crew is the importance of blogging for an author/writer. I won’t reveal any spoilers here except to say: It’s important! You can take the class to learn just how important it is, and why. So, with a bit of a grumble, and a heavy dose of caffeine (or in some cases, chocolate) I will write blog posts. But I don’t have to like it!
And while I'm writing those blog posts, here are some of the things I will wish I was doing instead, in no particular order.
I think this is obvious: Work on my novel! Yeah. This is precious time in an already busy schedule that could be spent working on the novel that I gave myself until the end of THIS MONTH to have the first draft completed. Gah! And I have this one thing that carries across at least three books tying together half a dozen characters spanning like 16 years in story time and I promise it will blow your mind! You're going to be like, “No way!! It's that thing! Heather was right! Mind blown!” *deep breath*
Play games on my phone. A neighbor sucked me into a new game in a recent moment of weakness on my part. Town-something. You know the game. Start with one cow, grow your farm to an empire, and attempt to take over the world! These game developers are very skilled at writing the programs for these games to be addictive. I’m thinking about my strawberry patch at this very moment while I’m typing away. Must. Resist. (I bet the programmers could write a blog about how to write games that suck people in.)
Spend time with that very friend who got me hooked on the phone game. She is one of my best friends, and I can never get enough time with her. Any friends would make this cut, but especially her. She makes me laugh so hard.
Nap! It’s fall. Cooler temperatures, colorful leaves drifting down from the trees on gentle breezes. That’s perfect for snuggling under the duvet and drifting off for a little while. Oh, let's just be honest here. I don't care what season it is. I don't get enough sleep all year long. Naps are good regardless of the season.
Watch tv. I don’t watch much tv anymore. It’s just fallen down on the priority list so low that I couldn’t tell you the last thing I watched. Oh, wait! I can! Once in awhile, I will have a bunch of tasks to do that don't require full attention. Like paying bills for example. So I do it in front of the tv. Last time I did that, I watched a couple episodes of Marvel Defenders on Netflix. And I want to see more. Is Jessica Jones in or not?? Don't tell me!!
Cook. This is probably pretty popular for a lot of people. I like cooking. When I have the time. And the more challenging, the better. I mean, food is critical to life. So that actually should take priority over blogging, right?
Gardening and yard work. I'm not growing my own food beyond a few potted herbs and a pepper plant given to me by a friend back in the spring. (I got 1 pepper from it. Not very rewarding for the time and water invested.) But I have some flowers that I give attention to on occasion. I also enjoy mowing the grass. It's an uninterrupted hour plus with my earbuds singing along with everything from Beastie Boys to Ella Fitzgerald, and a whole lot in between there. And no one can hear me over the roar of the mower. Win-win! Oh and don't get me started on my love affair with the chain saw. That's probably another blog post all by itself.
Cleaning the kitchen. Or any room for that matter. I don't keep many things out on my kitchen countertops. But it is a landing zone for things like mail, magazines, school papers that need attention, lunch bags, soda cans needing to be rinsed for recycling, dirty dishes people are too lazy to put directly into the dishwasher… You see where this ends up. So when I stop and clear all of that away, putting everything where it truly belongs, I have this kitchen that looks like something from a model home. (Granted, it's a model home that's nearly 20 years old and in need of updating. But that will be a future string of blogs: Renovating My Kitchen.). That clean kitchen, though it may only last a couple minutes before someone comes along and lands something on the counter again, gives me peace.
Sewing. Yes, you read that right. It's not a typo. I like sewing. I have some very basic skills with hand sewing and using my grandmother’s sewing machine to make simple things like curtain panels. I'm no Susie Homemaker. I mean, it's not like I'm sewing clothes for my family or… Oh. Wait. I did make a skirt for one of the kids for a middle school dance once. Including a zipper. And then with the leftover fabric, I made a matching skirt for a stuffed animal. Oh, um, yeah. Moving along…
Shopping!!! What girl doesn't love shopping? I don't go shopping just for the sake of shopping. I'm a list girl. I'm constantly telling Siri to add things to the shopping list. And what do list people like to do? They like to cross things off those lists! Ahhhh. Bliss.
So today you got a little more inside peek into my personality. And I got a blog written! Look at that!
What would be one of your 10 things you would rather do instead of a dreaded but necessary task?