A Change of Pace

I tried to catch up with my blog reading today, but didn’t quite manage. A couple more hours tomorrow will just about get me there.

Then I have up to five submissions to make in the next 8 days (it’s a short month) and I will be up to date. I say “up to” as I could do five but may not have time to write five good sets of submissions. Better to write three good sets than five poor ones.

Seems so simple when you write it like that, doesn’t it? Such a small manageable number, but one that seems huge when you sit here with nothing on paper and nothing in the tank.  This is where habit and discipline take over. This is where the traits like talent and inspiration start to show the strain and the excuse of writer’s block comes in. I don’t need talent or inspiration, just habit and discipline, and I’m not blocked, just disorganised. I should have been writing since Tuesday, after finishing the medallion talk but I seem to have watched TV and read instead. We all need a change of pace, but sometimes you need to force things on a bit, and I’m not very good with that.

That is, in the end, something that separates the top performers from the second division of writers. It’s also a good excuse. I can tell myself that I wasn’t quite dedicated enough to make that final push for the top and don’t need to admit I don’t write well enough to rise to the top of the pile.

With that thought, I will close down for the night, recharge my batteries and start the writing tomorrow. I’ve just remembered we are busy next weekend, so it’s going to be five submissions in four days. As I said, planning is important.

Irises

16 thoughts on “A Change of Pace

  1. tootlepedal

    Good luck with writing the submissions. I rely on mundane day to day events to provide me with material. Having to think up fresh and poetic ideas must be very taxing, let alone then having to write them down and polish them until they shine. Hats off to you.

    Reply
    1. quercuscommunity Post author

      Your mundane events are more interesting than mine. My poetry ideas at the moment all feature traffic queues, fumes and litter. I’d happily swap it for bridges, cows and flying birds.

      Reply
    1. quercuscommunity Post author

      I have no doubt you can do anything you want, including staying slim despite all the food pictures you post. You have eight days. Stop loafing in my comments section and start writing! And good luck. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Laurie Graves

    Love the pictures of those flowers. It’s funny how things look different from the outside. It seems to me that you are incredibly disciplined and write good poetry at an astonishing rate. Your rate of getting them published is also astonishing.

    Reply
      1. Laurie Graves

        Well, few bloggers include everything about our lives. When it comes to family and friends, discretion is essential. I always write truthfully, but I leave out plenty of details. A good thing, I think.

  3. Lavinia Ross

    Tomorrow is another day, a fresh start full of promise. I enjoy your poetry and writing, whenever you are able to get it done.

    The crocus and iris photos are quite cheery. Nothing says spring quite like like purple or yellow blooms.

    Reply
    1. quercuscommunity Post author

      They are from February a few years ago – I’ve not been getting around so much recently. We just had a few days of sun and the flowers are gaining a fresh impetus. 🙂

      Reply

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