Do You Get Distracted When You Write?
Blasted phone is ringing.
Again.
I will ignore it.
I do ignore it.
This time.
I pick up my pen, its nib quivers in my hand as I begin to replace “Once upon a time…” with something to hook a reader into the opening scene of a murder mystery.
The clock chimes the passing of time and the arrival of a new hour.
I smile.
A mystery is writing itself in my heart and I have only to let its words flow through the pen.
My breathing slows. My eyes focus on a blank page.
A dreamlike image of an old woman fleeing into the night with a pair of binoculars around her neck emerges in my imagination and I strain to see what is chasing her.
Photo by Holly Mandaric on Unsplash
My mind takes a side trip to the grocery store. Gotta remember tomatoes and hot chili sauce. And to stop at the post office on the way.
Did I put out the letters I wrote to be mailed?
Oh yes…where did the old woman go? She was here just a moment ago. With something around her neck.
Was it her grandmother’s pearls?
No.
A Scarf to keep her warm against the chill of the evening?
No. That’s not it either.
Well, I begin my writing anyway, leaving a pregnant space for whatever hangs about her neck to write itself.
Perhaps it will occur to me if I just go toss in a load of laundry. It will only take a second.
Who’s that at the door?
The UPS man wants a signature for the wine he just set down on my porch.
Mmmm…can’t wait to see what is in the box. It will taste good when I celebrate the finishing of my mystery story.
Perhaps I should invite my neighbor.
It’s not healthy to drink alone. it will only take me a second to send her a text and then I will go back to the old lady.
Where is she headed?
Why does she have anything at all hanging around her neck?
Is it something that ends up strangling her? But no, she’s the protagonist. I can’t kill her off in the first chapter.
I take a moment to ponder being a writer, feeling a sensation of quivering awe at the power I have to create or destroy.
To paint stories in color or black and white.
To shape events any way I want.
I see myself at a large book signing followed by invitations to speak about my recently won book prize for creative fiction.
What do I use for my signature?
Something bold and decisive? Or a mysteriously floating scrawl?
Who will I be as an author?
Photo by wendymiao chen on Unsplash
Time to let go of my day dreams and get back to my writing.
Photo from my personal postcard collection
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