Tuesday, June 16, 2009

The Swine Flu is circling my house

The Swine Flu is circling my house…My youngest son has broken his arm in three places…It hasn’t stopped raining in weeks…and We’re Months Behind in Our renovation…And Yet I’m writing so I notice none of it**


**Before I start this let me say, my son is doing fine. (Well as fine as one does when one is 21 months old with two broken bones in his arm. He is not being neglected in any fashion. He has been taken to several doctors and is wearing a cast**


Sunday Morning before my youngest son broke his arm, we sat in my living room.
My Husband: Rebecca?
Pause.
Husband: Rebecca? Hon?
Pause.
Husband: Rebecca, are you listening to me.
Short answer: No.


Now please don’t take this to mean my husband is annoyed or ignored. While I’m sure he would prefer to have my full and undivided attention at all times, he knows how much I love and adore him and it’s not like at this point in our lives he is surprised I can get lost in my own head.
You see this is the problem with me when I’m writing. Nothing else exists besides what I see in my head and what I put down on paper. (Or these days type down in paper.) At that particular moment, my characters were falling from one dimension to another. No more on this, I don’t share my work before it’s contracted, I learned that one’s ideas can become someone else’s ideas out here in cyberspace. Not that I wasn’t thrilled to read Annie Nicholas excerpt yesterday. It was awesome, wasn’t it? Truthfully, I also don’t want to post anything that hasn’t been grammatically polished by a professional either. My friend Dodie loves to point the problems with the things I’ve written, after I’ve posted them. I think I’ve developed a complex. Love you Dodie.


Anyhow, I digress. When I’m writing, I am actually living in the world of my own invention. The characters are having the actual conversations that I write on paper, sitting, eating, or doing whatever it is that I’ve described them as doing. The real world ceases to exist for a little while. I can write almost anywhere and do this. The one place I can’t: airplanes, which is really a problem because I HATE to fly and if I could write on the plane, then I could forget where it was that I actually sat. But I think I’m in such a state of perpetual anxiety on the airplane nothing will help at that point.


I know this is not true for all writers. Some writers can’t write at home, some can’t write anywhere but at home. Some have to be in their ‘space’ where they won’t be disturbed or where they have written notes and made outlines. Not me. If no one was speaking to me, I could write in a bar filled with all my friends.


Do any of you have special writing places or can you write anywhere?


It’s kind of funny isn’t it, you could be sitting next to me in a coffee shop and you have no idea I’m actually not existing in the same room with you, but instead I’m off in some other dimension where the grass is actually orange.


And that’s the entire hint as to what I’m working on that you will get until I either dump it or sell it.


Best to all of you and please be careful this playground we call life this season. People do break bones.

13 comments:

J Hali Steele said...

Home, I have to be home. I'm such a people watcher, tried the local coffee shop and got so distracted - did get some story ideas though! Plus need my Soundscapes. LOL

Take care of the little guy, Rebecca.

Sandra Sookoo said...

I can write anywhere. I've been known to ignore total conversations in favor of the talking in my head. Sometimes, I like my characters better. :-) It's just how it is when you're a writer.

Anonymous said...

I love to write outside when the sun allows me to see my screen. I haven't tried writing anywhere besides home and I'm a homebody so I imagine home would be it for me.

Sorry to hear about your son!

Great post!

Liena~

Esmerelda Bishop said...

I can write anywhere, in fact my favorite places to write are AWAY from this house. Mostly because I spend almost 24/7 in here and the change of scenary is refreshing and keeps the juices flowing. Unlike here, where no matter how deep I am writing, a child will come up and interrupt me. Then I have to refocus, which can be hard for me.
Esme

Annie Nicholas said...

As long as no one is talking to me I can write any where. Sorry to hear about your little guy.

Unknown said...

The trick is to get me to proofread before you post. *smirk* Thanks for the shout out Rebecca. I don't write, but I can get so lost in what I'm reading that I can't hear what's going on around me. Drives my husband to distraction. Best place? Couch when he's watching tv, or in the car so I don't have to watch him drive.

Chiron said...

Hey Rebecca!

I can't write anywhere. Although it's possible for me to block out some noise, other times it's crazy making. The cats fighting or the news blaring triggers an immediate shutting of the office door. I've learned to keep ear plugs at my ready if the gardener starts up with the weed-whacker which could be renamed Author Torture Device. ARGH!

I never let people read what I'm working on. Although I do hit up my crit partners it's not until AFTER I've exhausted every possible avenue of editing. Only when I'm certain I'm completely done do I hand it over. I'm always baffled with people who can hand over a chapter at a time. Or toss out something that is just written on the fly. I pore over my story and don't hand it off until I've checked it dozens of times. Even then there will be things I miss!

Great post! And sending healing vibes to you son!

Smiles,
Chiron O'Keefe
The Write Soul: www.chironokeefe.blogspot.com

Rebecca Royce said...

Thanks everyone~! I think he's doing okay considering.

Brooke said...

Sorry to hear about the little one, but I understand being lost in your own mind. Mine is usually having to do with math, not character development. So I guess we could both be physically in the same location but off in two different dimensions which could connect through a wormhole...you just never know. :)

Sandy said...

Rebecca,

Glad to hear the little is okay.

I have to have absolute quiet when I write, and if anyone interrupts me I bark at them. Grin.

Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) said...

Hey Rebecca

Poor little fella. Hope he's better. Tell him to use the cast as a drawing board. I remember having fun this way when I broke my left arm as a kid. Oh yeah, you can use erasable/washable markers, just wipe them off with a wet baby wipe and don't use actual water or the cast may become all weird.

As for writing, I'm like you, can write anywhere as long as no one's talking to me. I learned how to work around noise so now can be a crowded place and keep on punching the keys. The only reason I don't write outside of my house or my mum's place is because I'm afraid I'll scare people with the rapid typing, like it makes a really odd noise, as if I were punching the life out of the keyboard. Hubby says it's a terribly annoying sound so I refrain from inflicting that upon anyone else. Hubby, he deserves it! Lol.

Hugs

Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn)
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/

Rae Lori said...

Eek! Hope your son gets well soon, Rebecca. I remember those broken bones and they were not fun at all! Hope you guys stay healthy as well.

I think I can only write at my desk or on my bed in my own little comfy nest. If I step outside it's like the magic goes away and there's the real world. Whereas the moment I step at home a cocoon closes and I can really lose myself in the story and concentrate. And late at night is the best time to do it! Lol

Teirney M. said...

Even when I'm not sitting at my keyboard, I'm writing. I lay down to sleep or take a nap, I'm working out the next scene. If I'm talking to someone, (this takes practice, don't try it at home) I'll carry on the conversation, pretend to listen, but then I'm usually involved with my hero or heroine at the point, wondering what they would do. I write all the time, anywhere. I agree Rebecca, it's so easy to just get lost in this real world when the one you've created is so much more exciting!