Friday, April 06, 2007

FloridaCracker, I feel your pain...

If you read FloridaCracker's Pure Florida blog, you know that he recently completed his huge series of essays required to attain a certain certification for teachers. I am feeling quite overwhelmed right now, just as he felt (so overwhelmed, he actually GAVE UP BLOGGING for a while!!!)

My predicament is very similar in that I have a big story (somewhere around 20-40 pages) due Monday for my creative writing class...And I have a whopping 3 pages written.

The story is supposed to be a kid's story using creative and/or humorous writing as a way to teach specific morals, without the kids even realizing they are being taught. Sounds a lot like Brave New World, eh?

I chose to write about my dog's life on the street, in which she traveled the country on the rails as a "hobo puppy." I have had such a lack of motivation, though, that I do not enjoy working on it that much.

In order to fuel my creative thoughts and help me focus, I had planned on going out to my #1 place of inspiration...The swamp. But........get ready.......are you sure you're ready??......hold onto your seat because you may just fall out of it when I tell you.......I DID NOT FEEL LIKE IT. I know, the end is near. Since when does HurricaneTeen not feel like going out in the swamp?? Ugh, maybe I am just too ready for the school year to end.

So why does a person who loves creative writing so much have so little done, even though he has had a week now to do it? Well, in the past couple months I have been in a writing lull (hence the lack of blog posts), and I do not find myself enjoying it as much as I usually do. However, I feel like I am pulling through, and I think I am ready to get cracking.

My goal is to get ten pages done tonight, bringing my total to 13, and if I don't get that done, I will feel that I let ALL OF YOU down...So if I don't have that amount done by my next post (tomorrow) PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE give me some encouragement and/or a scolding. I REALLY need it.

Thank you.

(And I am not kidding...YELL at me. I am going to tell my parents to do the same.)
And the fact that I am working from 10:30 AM to 8 PM, then I have church till 11:30 does not help my situation, either. But I WILL get it done!!
Now I am off to write before I get distracted.
Good night !

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wooba!

Love,
Wrigley

John Cowart said...

One famous writer (I forget which one, Chaucer or Kurt Vonnegut or maybe Donald Westlake) said, "The chief occupation of a writer is to avoid writing".

Welcome to the club.

Paintsmh said...

Get writting kid...then maybe I will get inspired and go do all my college papers. Just be grateful that it doesn't have to be a research paper. I have a five and a ten page due the end of the month. Plus a 'new' class which will probably require a big project.

And my new calf wishes you luck in your endeavor.

MinorcanMeteorolgist said...

Wrigley - Woob.

JC - Ugh, Amen.

Paint - Ha ha, I just thought about that today. And I saw that new calf, but didnt have time to read the post or leave a comment. She's cute!

SophieMae said...

Hey! Sorry I wasn't around to heap encouragement on you through the weekend. Bet you came through with flying colours, anyhow.

Hope you had a blessed Easter in the midst of all the writing angst.

MinorcanMeteorolgist said...

sophie - Thanks for stopping in! The paper is not due till thursday, so I am happy!

R.Powers said...

You can do it! Lock yourself away and go for it.

I think Hemmingway called a blank page "the great white bull".

You gotta grab it by the horns and ride it.
Good luck!

Anonymous said...

I hope I am not too late to offer some encouragement, but here are some things I learned in my recent writing class and also from a book by Ann Lamott called Bird by Bird. She tells the story of her younger brother who put off a big project on birds for school. He was having a meltdown the night before it was due and her dad told him, "Bird by Bird Buddy,do it bird by bird." She also says that she keeps a small picture frame on her desk with a one inch blank square in it. She tells herself all she has to do is write one inch. Then, she will tackle the next inch. So, don't look at the big picture, just set small goals and before you know it, it will be done. Finally, write first, fix it later. Get something, anything down on paper. You can go back and edit it later, but if you don't write, you have nothing to edit. Hope it helps. Will you post your story on your blog? I would like to read it.

MinorcanMeteorolgist said...

fc and cathy - click, click, type, type, "ummmmmm", *snap*, click click, click tap tap tap.

Paintsmh said...

She is a cutie.

Hows the paper going? I still haven't started either of mine outside of some research...but I did get my take home quiz done. lol

MinorcanMeteorolgist said...

paint - It's coming along. I better get back to to work. It's due Thursday. Good luck on yours!

Paintsmh said...

Thanks. I'm gonna need it.