Hello!
Last night, my neighbor told me the sun would be out this morning after a gray, dismal week with little sun, so I decided to leave the bedroom curtains open last night. She was right. I woke up to sun in my eye and it felt great. I lay in bed for a couple of minutes, soaking up the sun's warm rays and then, I noticed the dirty streaks on my windows that I'd apparently missed when I cleaned them...in the fall? No matter! The sun was out! I'd get to them later.
Instead of the usual "I wonder what time it is" before throwing the comforter off, I bounded out of bed. I was up way late last night with my novel and despite feeling a bit tired, I washed my face and went to make a pot of tea. I let my Pug, Ozzy out, put the kettle on, and walked out onto my kitchen porch in my robe. Beautiful! Blue skies and very little clouds. Then, I noticed that the white paint on my wicker chairs was flaking off...really flaking. I'd have to get on that soon. But, not today! The sun was out! There's always March.
I fired up the laptop, watched Pierre, my kitten, jump from the dining room table to the top of the armoire (his first time!) and then, decided that instead of continuing the edits and rewrites on my novel, it was time to print out the entire manuscript. I wanted to read my book, A Decent Woman, and my reading eyes needed a break from the computer screen, too. No printer? No problem! I'd take a sunny day walk to the library where the very sweet and helpful librarian lets me use the library's fancy shmancy computer in the back room with the equally fancy shmancy, super fast printer! She's very nice to writers and future authors :)
As the printer spit out the 263 pages of my novel, I read the first page as I've done a couple hundred times over the years. Something didn't feel right. I couldn't put my finger on it. I decided to reread the first paragraph. Yep, it's in there. I honed in on the first sentence...holy crap.
My vision has recently turned into a "You can say it better, poor usage, bad grammar-seeking missle!!
Nothing was really wrong with the first sentence, BUT it could be explained and described even better!! ARGH! Needless to say, when the 263 pages were out, I'd already reworked the first sentence...and I loved it.
I printed out the new first page again because I'm a Virgo, wrapped up my manuscript and walked home, holding my precious bundle called A Decent Woman. The reason for these new eyes - one reason. Natalie Goldberg. She's the reason I'm fleshing out the mss, rereading with new eyes, staying with the mystery, slowing down when I want to rush forward, and describing the crap outta things! Yep, it's Nat's fault. And, I love her dearly.
My dirty windows can wait and so can the wicker chairs. Ozzy will always have to go out and Pierre (and I) will always reach new heights. I'll always love a pot of tea and I'll continue to walk every day, rain or shine. I'll write at home and at the library. Some things can wait and some things won't.
Rewrites, edits and learning through writing never seems to end and cannot wait. I'm okay with that even if the sun isn't shining.
Peace and love,
Ellie
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