For 17 years I filled out the Occupation heading on my Tax forms as "Writer". That all changed in 2002 when it became "Teacher" and I was at last able to claim expensive art books as tax deductions. Now, here I am back at the keyboard seeing if I can live up to my Tax Returns and have started back at the writing thing again.
Having left it sit for several months, I was challenged by a close friend -
"You blog about writing, but you're not actually writing...." I know, I know. What about the blog? No, it doesn't count - it has to be "real" writing... not blogging, not little haiku every now and then,... real writing that's muscular, inventive, fanciful, original, with sinews and strength that grabs the eyeballs with a vice like-grip and fastens them to the page. Not so easy.
Yesterday I squeezed out two paragraphs (short ones I know, but they did count as paragraphs) as well as cut some timber, read and attended my son's graduation. If I can come up with three or four more paragraphs today, I'll have a page and at this rate, in two years time, I'll have a novel of about 360 pages. Hey, don't knock it - you try writing 5 pages and see how far you get!
So tomorrow, it'll be back to the keyboard, wrestling with resistance and trying my damnest to come up with the goods. Light a candle for me.
Burn brightly, Pete
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