RELEXIONS ON A BIRTHDAY

Some years back I followed a course with the Children Writer’s Institute. Because I was in a full-time job, and my kids were quite young, the only way to focus on the studies without interruption was to be an early riser – very early. Before turning in for the night, I would set the coffee machine for 3:30 AM and prepare whatever project I was to tackle the next day. Beside the typewriter I would stack a thesaurus, a dictionary, piles of paper, and many, many corrector tapes. I can still remember my small portable typewriter. I had saved up for months to buy it, but couldn’t afford to spring for the deluxe model with its auto-corrector. My typing left much to be desired, so any work was done repeatedly before it could be deemed presentable. I’m sure I’ve gone through yards and yards of corrector tapes in my day. I can also remember reading about ‘word-processors’, and dreaming of owning such a handy machine. It would save me hours of labour. With it I could concentrate on the actual story subject instead of the grunt work.

Et voilà! Today I’m sitting in front of my computer, that miracle of miracles, writing in ‘Word’. The program has its own dictionary, allows me to erase, correct, displace sentences or full paragraphs...and corrector tape is now only a vague memory. The ‘grunt’ in the work has been greatly diminished, therefore the stories should be pouring out, right? Ummm – not quite.

My friend, Kilroy, whose Blog I read on a regular basis, mentioned how sometimes he can sit for hours trying to write a short piece. It wasn’t that easy, he told me. Anyone who writes will agree. Computers have facilitated whatever is required for the presentation, but the transfer of your thoughts to the page still demands work, and plenty of it. All along the ‘grunting’ has been the task of my imagination. Go figure!

Today is my birthday. Another one. It used to be just a cause for celebration. As I get older, it tends to also become a day for reflexion. Am I where I wanted to be at this age? Probably not, at least not exactly. I’m not griping, mind you. There is so much good in my life that I count myself extremely lucky. Everything that is important to me is pretty okay. That, therefore, should give me time to concentrate on making the other things better. One of those things is writing. I’ve been doing it off and on since learning how to string together the A-B-C’s; sometimes diligently, sometimes not. My excuse was that the need to make a living got in the way, but I suspect the truth is mostly my being lazy. Corrector tapes aside, writing, however pleasurable, still IS hard work.

I’ve promised myself that I will try harder. I will write something each day. To be continued.

Right now I’m going to celebrate with my family & friends. There’s some story material! How easy is that?

I’m sending you all a big, warm SMILE – when you catch it, please pass it on!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.