Setting priorities with your writing
Life can be frustrating at times.
- I am trying to maintain a regular, daily posting on my three blogs. In this I am largely succeeding but it does take quite an effort.
- I am also trying to check out lots of other blogs for ideas and help with the whole concept of blogging.
- I get heaps of e-mails every day and that takes time to deal with.
- I recently conducted a major review for a medium sized organisation and have just completed writing a lengthy report as a result of this review. The whole process was enough to make my head spin and my brain hurt with the sheer scale of data to analyse. It was self inflicted pain because I tried to cover too much ground when I formulated the questions.
- I need to be getting several short stories sent off to publishers.
- Ditto several dozen poems.
- Ditto two novels for children.
- Ditto several picture book texts for children.
Then there is the long list of writing ideas I have for stories, novels and other writing projects, not to mention a history book of our church for its centenary celebrations in about five years, something I haven’t even started thinking about.
Then yesterday my daughter asked me to write several articles for a family history book due to be published later in the year. Now this last writing project is relatively easy – she has given me a deadline, and there isn’t much time left to write them. So they will have a higher priority than other writing projects.
See – it’s all about setting priorities and having deadlines.
Some tasks naturally have higher priorities than others, so they get done sooner – or should. Deadlines have a habit of focusing the attention. Match procrastination with a deadline and the focus gets sharper still. Throw in a few suggestions of panic – and it’s amazing how focused one becomes and what one can achieve.
Of Books and Bookshops
We went to Adelaide on Wednesday to do some shopping. When in our capital city Adelaide I try to squeeze in at least some time in a couple of favourite bookshops. I’m a sucker for spending time in bookshops and I have a few specialist areas in each shop where I tend to spend more time in than others. One interesting area I often frequent is the travel section. So many places to go, so many interesting books about the journeys of others and so many maps. (I collect maps as a hobby.)
This time I deliberately avoided the travel section. I have enough books and magazines to read already without adding to the several rather considerable piles awaiting my attention. Besides that, when I look at travel books, atlasses and other maps I tend to get an uneasy feeling. Some people call it itchy feet. Others call it wanderlust. Catching the travel bug. Perhaps it is the call to adventure, of other places, of destinations not yet reached.
Perhaps it is time I went on a holiday somewhere.No – I haven’t got time – I’m too busy reading the three books I bought in another section.
Australia Day
January 26th is celebrated throughout Australia as our National Day. It was on this day in 1788 that this new country was founded by the first European settlers to arrive here. I thought I’d share a few images of things that are quintessentially Australian as my way of celebrating Australia day, and sharing something of our country with others.
Western Grey Kangaroo
Australia is known for its wonderful wildlife. The kangaroo would have to be one of the most recognisable members of our fauna. The cuddly look of the Koala would also be recognised world wide.
Koala and Magpie
Australia is also known for its amazing array of plants and wildflowers. Probably the most easily recognised tree would be the eucalypt (or gum) tree. There are hundreds of different species; I will show only one here. This scene, taken in the mid north farming area of South Australia, is typical of many parts of our land.
Balaklava Plains near Blyth South Australia
Of our stunning array of wildflowers, the banksia is easily recognised by many Australians. These magnificent plants give an amazing display when in full flower. The birds go crazy feeding on the nectar and seeds they produce. Photographers, artists and gardeners go equally crazy over them
Banksia flower
Now we turn to the birds. With about 800 species Australia is a plentiful land for the bird lover. Our vast range of parrots and honeyeaters, blue wrens and emus, waterfowl, waders, bush birds and sea birds attract birders from the world over. I’ve just chosen several to feature here.
Mallee Ringneck Parrot
Australia has so many beautiful birds it is hard just to show only two. Many more are featured in my photo gallery here.
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Sydney Opera House
Writing Hint #20 Get rid of clutter
I have declared the year 2007 as The Year to Get Rid of Clutter.
I currently do most of my writing in a room that used to be my son’s bedroom. When he left for university and married a few years later we converted this room into our office. Previously a corner of our own bedroom was the office area. Over the last ten years this “new” office has been well used. And it shows.
The clutter is – well, to be really honest – disgusting. Some writing magazines and occasionally a newspaper will feature author’s writing rooms, with the said writer posed romantically at his or her desk being very productive. Often these rooms are lined with bookshelves and everything seems so neat and proper. I can guarantee that each one of them had weeks of warning before the photographer arrived. They always seem so productive and sterile. I can also guarantee that reality is far from this pretty picture.
I have decided to start getting rid of all the clutter in my office. This is my theory: get rid of all that clutter and that will free my mind and energy so that it can be channelled into more creative pursuits.
Like writing.
So last week I started in ernest. The first object of my enthusiasm was the 30cm high pile of bank statements, old accounts (I was pleased to find that all had been paid), notes, jottings, miscellaneous pieces of paper, the odd magazine and the like. Many were filed in the nearby filing cabinet (which sadly also needs my attention). Some were shredded. In fact, hundreds of sheets went through the poor little shredder.
The next object of my newly found cleanliness fetish was the bookshelf above my desk. I have a lineup of a dozen or so magazine boxes. They have been crammed to overflowing with old magazines. Why I was keeping all those writing magazines I do not know. I had read every one of them. Some were more than ten years old. In a crazy wave of renewed enthusiasm to get rid of clutter I threw most of them out. Well – they are currently in a big box ready to take to a paper recycling centre.
Some of these magazines I did keep. The most recent two or three. Those which featured some of my writing were also kept. (Note to self: build an archives shed out in the back of the garage.) I also trolled through some for interesting articles to pull out for rereading. Not too many. They will also be shredded if I don’t use them in the next few weeks.
The next centre of attention was the comfortable chair near my desk. It is used for reading (and snoozing in when I get tired). It was covered in books, newspapers, unread magazines, travel brochures, maps, more accounts waiting to be filed and… well, you get the picture.
Still to be done:
- Several boxes of assorted papers, folders, first drafts, correspondence and the like.
- A large pile of unread newspaper literary pages.
- A larger pile of unread literary, travel and nature magazines.
- A daunting gathering of unread books on the bookshelves behind my desk.
- An old, rarely used desktop PC that hasn’t been fired up for about six months. It dominates my desk; it needs to be archived too.
All this just makes me feel tired.
I think I need a little snooze – but my comfy chair still has a few things on it and there is no room on the floor.
Oh, the floor is cluttered too.
Idiom #10: As dead as a dodo
This week’s idiom:
“As dead as a dodo.”
Meaning:
If something is “as dead as a dodo” it is dead, extinct, no longer working, obsolete or out of date.
Origins:
The dodo was a large, rather strange looking bird. It lived on the islands of Mauritius and Reunion in the Indian Ocean. Its name is Portuguese and means “silly” or “stupid.” European explorers and traders in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries found the flightless bird to be both easily caught and delicious to eat. This eventually brought about its extinction.
Example:
- “It is no use trying to use that old car,’ said James. “Its motor is as dead as a dodo.”