My children just left for a weekend with their father.
I spent the day trying to clear piddly little jobs out of the way so that I could concentrate after they’d left; nevertheless, I still have dishwasher, washer and dryer running even as I write this. No matter how hard I try simply to be done — even briefly done! — with dishes and laundry, I cannot break free from their constant pull.
Before they left we put away toys. I made a quick pass with vacuum and mop. I changed sheets, paid bills, refilled diapering supplies, and cleared the counters one last time.
I prepared a little basket of things that usually I cannot keep in plain sight because of sticky-fingered raids: lipgloss, cell phone, remote, drink, gum. This I placed on a table next to my comfy chair. I dragged over the laptop, still cord-bound because I can’t manage to get back on my wireless network and I refuse to make any more attempts until after this project is done.
Briefly I considered the use of a bedpan or an adult diaper, but I decided that might be taking things just a wee bit too far.
Why go through all these machinations? Because if I hadn’t cleaned and straightened before they left, that’s all I’d have done after they were gone. Given the choice, it appears that I’ll consistently select obsessive organization over more important but trickier tasks.
Like, say, the task of finishing a book proposal.
Organizing is a job at which I cannot fail. Even if I do it poorly, it will be undone so quickly that no one will be the wiser. But writing a book proposal? I could fail at that. I could fail spectacularly at that.
I imagine the agent reacting to the proposal like Randy Jackson reacts to crappy performances on American Idol: “Yo dawg, I gotta tell you, I’m just not feeling it,” she’d say, and then she’s suck air through her teeth. “It’s not your best performance. You know you’ve gotta bring it if you’re gonna succeed at this level.” And then I’d slink away, tail curled between my legs, unable ever to write another word again.
But I will not give in to fear. Instead, I’m parking my happy ass in this chair and not moving (except for sleep and bathroom breaks) until this book proposal is done.
Or until my children get back. Whichever comes first.
Wish me luck! And perseverance, because even now I can feel my pantry crying out for reorganization, and and I really should do something about the garage, and the recycling needs to go in, and oh! I need to cut my toenails, and…
Good luck! I’m going to want an autographed copy.
A’s last blog post..New Pictures
Bonne chance
hee
sounds like life as we know it… let me know if you need an editor (contrary to popular opinion i do grok regular grammar… :)
badinfluencegirl’s last blog post..rumble
That’s fantastic. Would that it goes well! Keep at it until you’re finished, that’s the attitude! I want to do the same one of these days, but I don’t know if mine will be nearly as exciting as yours, hehe.
Greyor’s last blog post..the shores of Dis
this is exactly how I am at report carding time….
“hey, you know, I still have 4 hours before it’s due…does the fridge smell a little funny to you?”
‘b.’s last blog post..I have this great little hoist-flip-sit thing
Would you feel better to know that you’re in excellent company?
The late, great Douglas Adams was renowned for the number of baths he could take in one day and the number of times he’d simply have to make and eat a pile of toast (with, unless my memory is playing trick, Marmite).
He did pretty well too :)
Ro’s last blog post..WTF???
I was looking for a quote of that! Couldn’t find it anywhere! :) –aag
AAG I commend you. As a writer myself the hardest thing is always just sitting down and getting the work done. It’s just plain terrifying to have your hopes, dreams (and dare I even say it… soul) put onto paper and placed before another person. I think jumping out of a plane is easier!
This is my first time commenting on any of your post, but I have to say I’ve been enjoying your work for months. You are very brave to share your life with the online world. And your writing is beautiful!
You’ll get there. The biggest indicator for success is simply turning up – which you’re doing by writing the proposal.
Damian’s last blog post..Grumbleground
Good luck but I’m sure you’ll do fine.
Just get it down. It doesn’t have to be perfect. That’s what revisions are for.
Perfection is for perfectionists and I know you don’t want to be one of THOSE.
N.
I thiknkk you’ll do fine. You’re already doing waaaay better than me. I can’t even get myself set up in the chair WITHOUT all the other work.
Omnipotent Poobah’s last blog post..Randomness: Praise the Lord Style
Good luck. If anyone should write a book, you should. I hope you write a book about a little wizard kid and his friends, who go to a strange school and have fun and hijinks. That would be real interesting.
Haaaaaaa
You can do it – I know how the mundane calls to you when other projects need doing…but you must ignore the pleas of the recycling, let the pantry scream for attention, leave the towels for one more day…its frustrating I know – but it was the only way I managed to finish my thesis! By ignoring the helpless pleas from my motherly duties.
AAG, there is one even better thing to do if you must procrastinate about the book proposal – write the book instead. Pull together the pieces you’ve already written and edit them, play around with it.
That way, you have even more to show an agent and a better sense of how to sell the book.
Good luck and happy writing!
Good luck! You certainly deserve it.
I look forward to pre-ordering it.
Sorry, AAG, but my Adams biography is in storage right now … if you can wait three weeks I should be able to get you a quotation! ;^)
Ro’s last blog post..WTF???
My wife is the same way about Stuff around the house. A little touch of OCD is not a bad thing.
Good luck on the book! Any hints or previews?
Laundry and dishes… life does have a circle indeed, and these are it.
here is my wish for luck, and perseverance through the pull of the garage cleaning sirens song.
PB
PB Zoom’s last blog post..HNT…
Wishing you the best of luck, flashes of incredible insight with the inspiration and ability to capture that with your word processor, and lots and lots of “focus” thoughts being sent your way.
Dave’s last blog post..A big blank
Good luck. I wish I had the talent to write a book. Lots of stories here just not very good at getting them down on paper.
I used to clean my cottage before final exams…and bake endlessly…all in a fit of procrastination. So get it all out of your system and then get to the werk at hand.
You are going to sail through this. (I want an autographed copy, too! Please!)
Hi AAG,
Remember– she approached you. That’s great.
You’re a great writer. But writing a book is a lot like taking a long, solitary journey. The book proposal is the first step.
Now– just like Frodo- out the door!
XOXO
Chuck
Wishing uninterrupted spans of attention punctuated by moments of literary inspiration.
Add me to the already sold copies list.
Good luck!
…even now I can feel my pantry crying out for reorganization
Amazing how the minutiae becomes the monumental when we are afraid to confront something.
Because what really is monumental is the fact that all the changes and choices in your life have lead you to this point where you are now: alone, to write what you have always wanted to write.
I wish you the joy of being in the flow.
Kochanie’s last blog post..One Last Little Teaspoon-full Deeper
I wish you the joy of being in the flow.
And the above does not refer to your recent bladder infection. ;-)
Although I hope you will have no recurrence of that this weekend.
Kochanie’s last blog post..One Last Little Teaspoon-full Deeper
I can feel your pain! I love to write, but sometimes it’s tough to find the creative motivation and inspiration. When I run into that problem, I just force myself to sit down at the computer and start–even if I start in the middle and circle back to the beginning. Eventually it comes together for me, and I’m sure it will for you, too. Good luck!
J’s last blog post..The Life of a Submissive
Fingers crossed. Exciting stuff.
Brainiac Chick’s last blog post..The Return of Grasshopper
I imagine the agent reacting to the proposal like Randy Jackson reacts to crappy performances on American Idol…And then I’d slink away, tail curled between my legs, unable ever to write another word again.
Or, you could choose to be like William Hung. Choose to walk away completely unscathed by the criticism (“I already gave my best and I have no regrets”), and become a national phenomenon who sells three albums.
Just sayin’.
Miss Syl’s last blog post..Lately…