Sirius-ly, I’m writing here!
Memes. They’re a hoot. Remember when people did not know what to do with them, even how to pronounce them? The Oxford English Dictionary and the man who coined the word both claim it should be pronounced “meem.” Why did we have so much trouble with that? probably because it was initially written, not spoken.
Some memes are just for a chuckle, while others offer deep social commentary. This is not a post on memes and their value; it’s instead a commentary on one particular meme pasted above my computer in my closet.
Anyone who knows me well knows I am affected by guilt. My own children have mastered “guilting” me into a thousand things. I, however, am able to drive myself mad with guilt and it’s companion, remorse.
So, anytime anyone says, “Shouldn’t you be…” they do not even have to finish the phrase and I am already agreeing with them. Yes, yes, I probably should…
Some people have an opposite response. Whenever they’re told they need to be working on this or that (especially when they’re repeatedly told) these people go all heels-out and do anything other than what needs done. I kind of admire that.
Snape has been on my wall now for over a year, and I owe him a debt of gratitude. Looking down his nose at me, he motivates me to quit surfing the net or reading an e-book. From his perch above my computer, he’s always there, and I know he’s judging me. (The truth is, I have three copies of this meme posted around the house, and now here on my blog!)
I love to write. It’s not that. Honest Sirius, I do.
I need Snape, and now an audience on this site, to keep me on task. I’m interested in too much. I marvel too much. (Once I caught myself—an hour into it—fawning over my philodendron. I was plucking and pruning and studying the graceful nature in which each new leaf comes to be, each curvature of the stems toward the sun, wondering about phototropism and remembering the effects of music on plants, and…)
When I was a kid, I read the entire encyclopedia set. (There was not much else to do in the winter on the farm.) I have an insatiable interest in all things interesting—and it’s all interesting, even poop. Imagine the problem, then, having the entire Internet at my fingertips, the same fingertips that should be tickling the same keyboard into the next novel.
Some authors use elaborate means to keep their curiosity in check and their distractions at a minimum. When I write, I don’t work that way. I crack out 2,000 words a day, but I also dive down the rabbit hole on several topics in the course of things.
I can’t let an uncertainty go unexplored. Would my main character be able to sand surf in Peru? Could an airship be constructed at the scale I imagine? This ‘research’ has been thrilling. I’ve learned so very much about everything from geography to psychedelic drugs.
Sure, Snape might be browbeating me to write, but research/writing gets a pass. He is, however, reminding me that writing blogs is not writing books, and perhaps it’s time now to switch grindstones for my nose.
