I don’t know about you guys but Friday is the hardest day of the week for me in terms of working. I have slaved away all week long at my keyboard, tucked away inside the house, void of most human contact. (some weeks you can call what happens between me and the kids “human contact”) I WANT OUT!
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want out of writing per say. I want out of the house. If I don’t get out of the house I give up on my writing all together in favor of the couch and some Cheetos and no one wants to see that happen. So I pack up my laptop and I head for the door. Spring has sprung after all, so today I am heading to the park so that I can sit on a park bench and imagine myself some famous writer, hanging out at a park in Paris. I am gonna get some work done away from my desk right?
Be honest, you have always envied those writers that you see on television who have their laptops or iPads at some really cool beatnik coffee shop, hammering away, churning out the next great novel. They look so together sitting there working their butts off while everyone just looks at them longingly wishing that they were a writer….cue the screeching sound….what a minute…is that how it really works? I don’t think so….
When you are out, laptop in hand, people feel they have permission to talk to you. Writing done??? Please…folks see that you are trying to turn your laptop on and they ask, “Are you a writer?” You dumbly nod your head and from there it’s on. A million questions from this stranger who seems to be very at home in a coffee shop. That first guy becomes a second when the yahoo sitting at the next table hears you talking. The barista stops at the table to see if you need anything and asks how long you’ve been writing. You tell her a long time hoping that she will go away but instead she tells you some story about how her mother’s sister’s step daughter’s cousin also writes. A fourth person leans in to listen as well. Someone asks you what you are working on and you tell them a book. Now they want to know what the book is about and a fifth and sixth person joins the crowd. It’s a couple who look like your Uncle Jack and his mistress Maria. (who is also the maid I might add…Aunt Clara has no idea.)
Before you know it, a crowd has gathered so you quietly turn off your laptop and shut the lid. Everyone is asking questions. What do you write; where do you get your ideas; do you know Stephen King…you smile and answer as best you can. Well you were going to get some writing done…the heck with that now. You smile and tell the Uncle Jack look alike, sure, thanks, you’d love a latte…what’s the use…it is, after all, Friday.
Writer’s Note: Still try and get out of the house and write on Fridays…just don’t be surprised if you don’t actually get any writing done.
© The Writer’s Advice, 2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.
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This is the next in our series of Christmas ideas for writers. One of the things that all writers need on a regular basis is fun. We live solitary lives and sometimes it gets really hard to hold to your sanity or sense of self-worth… So here are a few gift ideas that take our neediness into consideration and allow us to have a little fun along the way.
