Moments ago I was sitting in my family room, editing my current work-in-progress, loving the quiet hour or so I'd lucked into. None of the 5 children who eat here/sleep here/ask for money were currently home. The dog was sleeping at my feet, ice melting in my iced tea. A large thump from the front of my house startled me and I hurried to the door. Needless to say I was surprised to see my son (pictured in the previous post) and one of his friends, brushing off their hands after having dumped a large sofa on my beloved porch. They'd noticed the "FREE" sign on it and knew it would be perfect in their room at college next year. I really shouldn't have been that surprised. In the 16 years we've lived here this is at least the third sofa one or both of my sons has deposited on my porch. They've never paid a dime for any of them. I see flotsam, they see an unfurnished apartment filling up. I also see their grins.
My son and his buddy headed to the pizza parlor where they work and I went back to my editing. And had one of those AHA! moments that led me to this post--I had seen garbage where they'd seen a comfy couch. When I'm editing/revising/drafting, I see stories and life and promise where others might only see words or missed connections or, even worse, garbage. It's my task, as the writer, to hone the words into prose, into its own world. I start with an idea, a phrase, a nuance. If I look at it right, I can see a furnished story where before had only been bare walls.
The goal I'd set for myself last week was to have this WIP fully developed and polished by the end of July. I'm holding to that and adding this: to have the sofa off my front porch by then as well.
6 comments:
Excuse me, but I'm still LOL over the couch. And, speaking of seeing things differently, my eyes spy what appear to be white "unmentionables" hanging out from under the cushions. ;o))
You're a good mom, Judy, who is able to roll with whatever lands on the front porch. May more of your wonderful storytelling roll out there as well!
Worthy goals, all.
Our lesser sofa is standing on end in the garage. :)
You are a great sport Judy! Thanks for sharing the front porch shot that didn't make the website :-) Keep up the amazing progress on your book!
Thanks, all of you, for stopping by and laughing with me. The sofa actually is gone already--my son's friend and his folks came over with a borrowed truck last night and it's now in either their garage (his mom's decree) or his bedroom (Will's request).
Now, it's back to the legal pad and good ink pens for me. I have several thousand words to put in a particular order.
Excellent analogy. Sometimes writing can be like refurbishing an old piece of furniture. You know it's beautiful, now you just need to clean it up and make it shine so the rest of the world can see what you see.
BTW, if I haven't said it before, welcome to the novel racers. =oD
Thanks for the insight into writing and what lies ahead with kids :-)
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