While eating a mid-afternoon snack yesterday Truck Boy and Pretty Girl were distracted by a lizard on the window. I found myself telling them to forget the lizard and please just sit down and eat their snack. After several renditions of this I asked myself why this was important, and truth was, it wasn't.
The truth is that the snack would still be there when the lizard was gone. And let's face it, the windows are already so dirty their sticky little fingers couldn't have harmed them. Think of the wonder and excitement of seeing a lizard. I'm only being slightly sarcastic here. Lizards are everywhere and we see them all the time but to a almost two and a three year old they're always marvelous. (I don't plan on marveling over the ticks, fleas and mosquitoes which are starting to make an appearance and are supposed to be especially bad this year)
As writers we need that wonder in our lives. It's what tells us there are stories in everything. Most of all we need that wonder in our WIPs. Take a break, come back and marvel at your ideas, your words, and descriptions. It's not just a time line, a project to be completed on your way to publication. It's a marvelous creation that we should delight in.
Good post, Sara. I need a bit of wonder at the moment. ; )
ReplyDeleteWanna send me your manuscript? I'll highlight all the good parts for you. Hey, that's not a bad idea. We should have confidence beta readers who tell us what we do right when we get depressed or overwhelmed.
Delete"It's not just a time line, a project to be completed on your way to publication. It's a marvelous creation that we should delight in."
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Glad you enjoyed it.
DeleteOhhhhh... I loved this... such a great little message in so few words. Love the idea about needing wonder... it's true :D
ReplyDeleteIt is true, but we often forget it in the bustle of life. Good thing we have children to remind us to be excited about the little things.
DeleteYes, exactly! :)
DeleteI agree that's the key. And when we're old it's what we'll wish we had done more of in our life.
ReplyDeleteSO true, and goes back to what I remind myself of ALL THE TIME - be in the moment. Do it in life, do it when you write.
ReplyDeleteBe in the moment. We all need to remember that.
DeleteLovely, Sara. I like the idea of taking time to marvel at the world.
ReplyDeleteIt needs to be done. :)
DeleteNice! I've lived in places where there are lizards galore. Good old geckos.
ReplyDeleteMy kids love them. I'm not looking forward to the time they start putting them in their pockets and bringing them in the house though.
DeleteWe have a bush outside our front window and every morning the cat is sitting at the window, chasing the shadows of the anoles on the curtains. You'd think by now he'd realize there's a wall of glass and he's never going to catch one and that he'd give up.
ReplyDeleteAnd then...one of them actually got into the house because I hadn't closed the window all the way and made it all worth the wait for him.
Well, I'm glad his wait was rewarded :) Our cat is the same way, always trying to catch a bird through the window.
DeleteNice insight. Yes, we should recapture the wonder in our writing. This is my first visit, via Jayne Fersts's blog, but I'll be back.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
DeleteOh, the many things we can learn from children. One of my favorite lines from a popular movie is, "I wish I could get as excited about ANYTHING the way children do about bubbles."
ReplyDeleteSo. True. :) I need to work on that POV in my writing. Usually all I see are the imperfections, and the long road ahead.
Love the quote. It's so easy to see the long road ahead and I think we need to be aware of it, otherwise we would get discouraged easier. But we need to notice the pretty flowers and trees along the road too.
DeleteI like your approach to viewing what we take for granted as being "common" in our lives. I agree that wonder is an important thing for writers to have for we can imagine something common morphing into something unusual. What if the lizard turned into a dragon after being stroked three times?
ReplyDeleteThat would be pretty cool. Though I'm not tempted to let the kids try it. I don't think the lizard would last that long.
DeleteWonder is definitely important to writing!
ReplyDeleteYes it is.
DeleteWonderful post! It's good to stop and enjoy and discover and wonder.
ReplyDelete