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Thursday, July 11, 2013

Stories to be told

Photo by Theo Ferguson,
Hummingbird rescue at Yerette
When I read Liane's post on Henry Miller's commandments I was a bit distressed to find that his number one commandment is my greatest struggle: Work on one thing at a time until finished.

Perhaps I have this problem because I write children's books and many young children live in a magical world of wonder. So many things are new to them, so many of their daily activities are 'firsts', they make new discoveries at a rapid pace. 

Perhaps I have this problem because I haven't really grown up myself? Who knows, but I am constantly discovering new ideas, urgent ideas and I find it difficult to work on one thing to the exclusion of all of the others. I have been trying, though; making notes as new ideas come to me and hoping that I will have the opportunity to do justice to everything at some point.

For someone with my particular problem, a trip to Trinidad is like a candy addict's visit to a Hershey's factory. There is so much to see, flora, fauna, natural phenomenon, and many creative man-made features. I saw Trinidad through my children's eyes--it was their first visit--and the view was colorful, lively, and magical.

3 comments:

  1. I also have that problem--too many partially written stories on my hard drive. I resolved recently to not start anything new, but an idea for a murder mystery just grabbed me and off I went. 7000 words in four days. I'm not stopping this one until I'm done. (I swear.)

    I've been so preoccupied with, well, life, that I forgot you mentioned you'd be here early July. It's good for me to be reminded of the wonders of my home island; they're too often clouded by unpleasant social realities. I'm overdue for some immersion in nature's bounty.

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  2. I too have too many unfinished stories on my hard drive. I even have completed stories that I haven't attempted to publish. But I have come to accept that and not hassle over completing one at a time. Henry Miller had his routine, and I have mine.

    So Carol, don't stress about your candy addiction. You can try butterscotch, hard caramels and chewy chocolate fudge at the same time. As long as you finish eating them in due time, you'll be fine. :)

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  3. Several times in my life I've started two writing projects around the same time and even made progress on both for a little bit, but eventually one takes over and I have to focus solely on it. I just don't seem able to write two things at once, even when I separate them out by time of day that I work on them.

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