A Train, A Muse and a Character to be Named Later

TeroVesalainen via Pixabay 

I'm typing this on Sunday evening aboard a train from New York City, mostly because I love both the concept and the actual act of writing while on the train (but also because I need a post for Monday). The day before we left, I finished the almost-final draft of my next book, Know Thyself: The (Im)Perfectionist's Guide to Sorting Your Stuff. Though my deadline is looming, I decided to let my completed manuscript sit while I spent the weekend celebrating my daughter's 21st birthday at a Billy Joel concert at Madison Square Garden.

Because I finished my draft on Friday and had train time on both Saturday and Sunday, I thought maybe I'd see what my Casting the First Stone/ Chasing a Second Chance characters were up to. Unfortunately, it had been so long since I'd paid attention to them that they were feeling a tad uncooperative.

Or maybe it was me.

Writing on command, though a necessary strategy, is not always a fruitful one. It seems there's nothing like a deadline for one piece that makes another one seem more attractive. My mother would call that being fickle; John Perry would call it structured procrastination -- at least if I succumbed to the siren song of the "other" piece.

In any event, I'd hoped my train time this weekend would give me an opportunity to focus on blog posts and maybe creep a little closer to the end of the third MAC (Marita/Angel/Charli) book, but the blog topics weren't flowing any better than the MAC storyline.

But tonight, on our trip home, I peered out the window at one of our station stops, there it was. Inspiration. Not for anything I'm actually working on now, of course -- that would be too simple -- but, rather, background for a novel that's third or fourth in line. Inspiration for something I won't be able to seriously approach for sixth months or more.

What to do? The mature, responsible approach, some would argue, would be to keep nose to grindstone and tackle what I'd set out to work on. And that, of course, is exactly what I did not do.

Instead, I delved into that background, jotting down my ideas, doing some Google searches and feeling a character come to life a little more as I wrote about....

Well, I can't tell you that right now. It might spoil the story.

Pexels via Pixabay

My decision might not have been the mature, responsible one, but any writer worth her salt knows you don't ignore inspiration when it walks in and presents itself to you wrapped in a big, red bow (figuratively, of course). You cajole the inspiration, convincing it to linger a little longer so you can pepper it with as many questions as possible before it decides it's bored and slips off again, to new adventures and other writers.

And then you go back to your work in progress.

Or at least that's what I do because, when I get home, it's back to course planning and attacking the to-do list. As long as I'm on the train, time and inspiration are mine.

And I'd be a fool to squander either one of them.

Friday Feature: Need a Little Inspiration?

I have a love-hate relationship with the news. I keep watching it and taking it in through various other media, like Facebook and Twitter, because I feel as though I should be an informed citizen.

But, much of the time, I hate what I'm seeing and hearing. And the price that I pay for being informed is sometimes too high. Fear. Anger. Lingering messages from unlikely sources.

I had something else chosen for my Friday Feature this week, but this morning, I just felt the need to go a different way, so I kept looking. When I stumbled onto the "10 Most Inspiring College Commencement Speeches," I knew I'd hit my mark.

I'll be honest. I haven't watched them all, so I can't attest to their degrees of inspiration. But I determined that even a little inspiration had to be a good thing, and so I'm posting this anyway, in the hope that at least one will inspire. If it turns out they don't deliver on their promise, we can always do what I should perhaps do with the news more often.

Turn it off and turn to something else.

Along those lines, I will offer an alternative -- and this one I've tested. If you haven't yet seen James Corden's Carpool Karaoke with Sir Paul McCartney, take a look.

It definitely got my day off to the right start.

Have a great weekend.

Friday Feature: Inspiration from Steve Jobs

Having stalled in the middle of the tome that is the Steve Jobs biography twice, I already know that as astute an innovator as he was, his people skills left something to be desired. In other words, like the rest of us, he was imperfect. Human.

But he left a mark, and, like many successful people, he left a legacy of wise words as well.

Need a little inspiration? Check out this slideshow of Jobs quotes, courtesy of Entrepreneur magazine. 

You're welcome.

Strategic Clutter

Photo: qimono via Pixabay

Years ago, I participated in a blogging workshop with Sarah Reinhard at the Catholic Writers Online Conference. In it, Sarah suggested using our environment for inspiration when a topic for a post had failed to present itself.

Today is one of those days when a look around my office inspires little more than the urge to clean it, however I do have a few inspiration "nudges" that are part of the everyday scenery, no matter how cluttered. Here by design, they often help me out with a topic when no post is presenting itself.

Most mornings (at least the ones when I'm home alone), I say good morning to my Amazon Echo Dot.  Yes, I know she's not human (although the fact that I have to say, "Alexa" to activate her leads me to use female pronouns when I refer to her), but she tells me things like the weather and a fun fact about the day. The other week, for example, she told me it was the International Day of Happiness. Ironically, I'd already written a post about happiness that day, but thanks to Alexa, I found a great graphic to go with it. She'll also tell me the day and date, a helpful little trick when I'm on vacation and lose track.

Photo: Bucknell University Facebook page

But, since my office has no shortage of calendars, I can usually find that information on my own. On the wall behind my desk, I have a Bucknell calendar, featuring a different photo from my alma mater to brighten my office wall each month. In front of me is a smaller wall calendar purchased for the "just do it" kind of quote it provides each month. (March's quote was "Get it done." More on this month's quote next week). Finally, there's my page-a-day Happiness Project calendar, which has inspired several blog posts in the last several weeks.

There are those who prefer austere work spaces, and many organizers swear by "zones" and clear space. Although a clear desk top is my ultimate goal, being surrounded by inspiring things is also key. Things that bring back memories, make me smile and goad me into action are part of the ambience of my office, and too much clear space on walls and shelves feels as intimidating as a blank screen and no words to fill it.

Of course, clearing the stacks of paper around my sources of inspiration might give me a better view. Or, perhaps they provide a touch of irony. Either way, the next time I dig into the stuff on the desk, those sources of inspiration will be sticking around.

Saturday Special: Closet Inspirations

smartstopselfstorage.com

Inspired by this week's thoughts of organized rectangular spaces, I tackled three of my (kitchen and dining room) drawers yesterday (when really all I meant to do was empty the dishwasher). Now, if only the dining room table looked as good as the insides of the drawers!

I've also been spending some time on Pinterest, looking for pictures of drawers and closets that inspire me with not only the end product, but how easy it would be to replicate. This board is a work-in-progress; it's very small now, but I'll keep adding to it during future Pinterest binges.

And that was the driving force behind today's Saturday Special. I wanted to find something photo-heavy -- pictures of closets that look good, but don't require a budget that rivals a month's pay, and would be do-able for someone (like me) who suddenly gets inspired to make a change, but only has a few hours to kick off that change.

Since HGTV's (now defunct) Mission: Organization (recommended by my sister) got me started on this journey, it seemed only fitting to use an HGTV resource today. And for those who dare to drool, check out the last picture in this Babble piece!

Whatever you're doing with your Saturday, have fun! And, if you're making progress on your organizational journey, please share your successes in the comments here!