Try as we might, we write what we write.

bg Thurston said this. She's a poet and I can't find out much about her.

A ca Coxon aside: I found her name slightly annoying, at first. WHY does she not use a capital BG? What IS her name? I searched and searched and could find nothing much at all. That was even more annoying. I like to KNOW things. Then I realised - what a very good way it was to ensure your name is memorable

That aside, yes, try as we might. we write what we write...

Oh, the strategies I've employed to get this screenplay written.

I regularly face west as part of my Feng Shui strategy to promote creative thoughts.

I make myself complete x number of pages before I'm allowed to eat another Iced Currant Bun (food of the gods)

(I'm getting used to eating stale Iced Currant Buns)

Yesterday's strategy was - I'm trying to think of a name for it...

If I have a problem, say - I can't think where a scene should go, or what will be a credible motivation for a character's next action or whatever, normally I sit and stare at the page until I go cross-eyed.

Yesterday, I wrote a list of household chores. A problem surfaced. I looked at my list. I chose a chore. I said to myself - 'Before I've finished hand-brushing the stair carpet I will have worked out how to get x to do y"

Other stair carpets available

IT WORKED!

Peter likes my new strategy.

Day 23 Update
6 pages - that's better, girl!

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.

Dale Carnegie said this. (Wasn't he named after a hall?)

Yes, yes, I know. Another of those annoying, sickening, unremittingly positive quotes. Leading to a positive blog.

Only because I need it. Not because you need it.

It's strange (isn't it?) how some people find positivity irritating. Why IS that? Surely better to be surrounded by people with smiles on their faces and an uplifting attitude than misery and negativity?

No?

Okay, then. Enjoy yourself.

But don't expect me to come to the party!

Day 22 Update
5 pages and a whole lotta fun (but still not enough!)

“Pain is temporary."

"It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. That surrender, even the smallest act of giving up, stays with me. So when I feel like quitting, I ask myself, which would I rather live with?"

Lance Armstrong

 Yep, today I need a REALLY motivational quote. Up to London last night, coaching, home at 12.30 a.m., less than four hours sleep. All my choice (except the not being able to sleep bit) so I'm not complaining.

But I AM tired.

I choose pain!

And coffee.

And having the window wide open so the fresh air keeps me awake.

And another Iced Currant Bun.

Day 21 Update
2 pages and a feeling that this is NOT enough, Caroline

If you do not expect the unexpected you will not find it, for it is not to be reached by search or trail.

,,,said Heraclitus.

(I'm looking at the picture, which I chose because it was jolly, and wondering which way the fish jumped.)

Yesterday was unexpected. I didn't expect it. Having dutifully informed all my clients that I'd be back at my desk (well, I'm nearly ALWAYS at my desk - but I mean, back at my desk and open for business) from 10 a.m. I expected to be inundated with work.

Nothing. No e-mails. No phonecalls. NOTHING! ALL DAY.

This was the thought process that ran through my head: Because I dared to take a week off, they have FOUND ANOTHER WRITER. Another writer who is better/cheaper/faster/more intelligent/more diligent than I am.

I WILL NEVER WORK AGAIN.

So instead...I carried on with the screenplay and got on more quickly with it than on the days that I took off especially to work on it.

Now THAT was unexpected.

Day 20 Update
7 pages and sailing

If people knew how hard I worked to achieve my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful after all.

No, that wasn't ME speaking. That was Michelangelo. I wouldn't be so presumptuous.

Well...today I'm back to work after my week off at home. You know, the week where I was going to finish my screenplay.

Do I think I've failed? Actually not. I've completed about half of my screenplay and I'm confident I'll meet the deadline (though it will take something. A BIG something) The important thing is, that after months of stasis, I'm back to creative writing. The MOST important thing is that I'm enjoying it.

Here, for your Monday delight, are some creative interpretations of the hand detail from The Creation of Adam.

By Eresaw

And...

By Macrolensfan

And...

by Desirée Glanville

Day 19 Update
2 pages but I was re-painting the larder!

A large part of getting organized is learning to act from a place of self-esteem

"knowing what we want and don’t want to do, knowing what we can and can’t do, and taking care of ourselves."  says Marilyn Paul, Ph.D.

At the moment, I'm going through a frenzy of document overwhelm. All a massive story, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it. Big Time.

The course on which I'm a coach has MOUNTAINS of paperwork (note the hyperbole - there's not that much really.) I look at the sheets of paper littering my desk, I look at Google Docs and respond somewhat like this:

It's very draining being disorganised. I had never thought of it as a way of not taking care of myself until I read that quote by Marilyn Paul. While I know there are endless self-help books out there about how to get organised...

(Caroline's new reverie - I could buy hundreds of them and there'd be so many, so badly organised, I'd never be able to find the one I was looking for.)

...I like the sound of Ms. Paul's just from the title alone -It's Hard to Make a Difference When You Can't Find Your Keys: The Seven-Step Path to True Organization

That is ME! This should be my keyring.

It IS hard to make a difference when you can't find your keys, or that particular piece of paper, or that email or...

 I MIGHT buy the book. I really very often try, and fail to be organised for more than about half a day.

Day 18 Update
3 pages and lots of fun

My view on feng shui: don’t put your bed in front of the door because you won’t get in.

I've got a feeling this was said by Jonas Eriksson the designer, rather than Jonas Eriksson the Swedish football referee - but I might be wrong. Who knows?

(Caroline immediately embarks on a reverie about the use of feng shui in football.)

Well, I'll be jiggered! Here's an extract from an article on the very same subject by Mike Rowbottom in The Independent (2002)

"Players such as Roy Keane and David Batty have been performing their own modified version of the art for several years on the field of play, rearranging opposing teams by repositioning their players with carefully modified impacts. Actually, that's not right. Keane and Co are practising kung shui, which sounds similar but has more of a martial arts feel. Sorry, if I misled you."

 ANYWAY...I was talking to a buddy of mine who's writing a novel. His feng shui expert informed him that he would have better creative thoughts if he faced west. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. After a long period of procrastination working out which way was west - it's looking out of my study door - I tried it.

It seemed to work...

I made the mistake of telling Peter.

"I know, you could write with a rose quartz crystal balanced on top of your head to keep away Evil Spirits and wrap yourself in aluminium foil to avoid the damaging rays from mobile phone masts."

I do so much love it when I'm taken seriously.

Day 17 Update
3½ pages (note the desperation of putting in half pages) and creative west-facing thoughts.