Taking a break from SAT study

Wednesday, May 30, 2012,

 I’m thinking:

 If I were to force the words they would not come right. If I were to write out my thoughts as they stand, they would present a sad and dismal sight; a few words, clinging to each other as I tried to turn them into an ensemble of more interest. How do I spark inspiration and motivation? One cannot simply turn them on as one would a lamp, how easy it would be if so. Can I write with no motivation to drive me forwards? Writing is not a manual task, not a task that one can accomplish like washing the dishes or cleaning the floor, to write one must be able to be full of interest and ideas. You can, of course, put the words into some sort of sentence easy enough. Meaningless, insipid sentences they would be too. For it is not the stringing of the words together that makes a writer a writer, but the thoughts behind them, and what if you have no thoughts? What can you do with a writer with no words, no thoughts, with a mind as blank as can be? Push them to write and they shall write all sorts of gibberish and nonsensical balderdash. The writer who is pushed to write cannot answer for the words that fall from their pen. Oh inspiration begins to peep out of the words, how easy they come once you are started! Just to continue, to continue to write and the thoughts begin to come though they are nonsensical ones.

 I’m listening to:

 The Frank Sinatra station on Pandora, and goodness gracious I’m in love! The Andrews Sisters, they just came on. I’m in love. Goodbye modern times! I am packing my bags and going back to sometime in the 1930’s. Did I say that I wanted to go back to a regency time period of Jane Austen? I am indeed a fickle creature! With only a faint sign of regret do I wave goodbye to my empire wasted dresses of dreams, to the cravats and to the mannerisms of that time. I am destined for the pre-World War II era. I’m not picky! Indeed not! I don’t mind if it isn’t exactly that time, just give or take a decade or two. You see? I’m not being demanding. I’d just like to be dressed in a nice collared dress, heels, a nice fashionable hat (the hats! We were meant to be, the hats and I). Oh yes! Goodbye modern times! I am off to dance while listening to the Andrews Sisters and Frank Sinatra.

I’m reading:

 Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. If I weren’t so happy right now listening to music and writing away I should be longing for my book, for I only have a hundred pages left and I’m dying to finish. I’ve been reading almost nonstop for the past couple days and it is tortuous to be so close and not able to go off into a corner and just finish it up with a nice satisfied chomp and eat it into two bites. I stayed up horrendously late reading considering I got up at five thirty this morning and am most determined in my object of having a nice nap before I go to work.

 I’m creating:

 I just started writing a new story. I’m not quite sure where this one is going. I started with really just a sketch of a scene or two taking place at a grocery store, and I suppose I could really go anywhere with it. Isn’t that the best feeling? Knowing that you could take it anywhere from your beginning, it could go wherever you wished from there.

 I’m wearing:

 Black sweat pants, a cream blouse and a tan sweater over the top.

 A recent few quotes that inspired me:

 “This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals—sounds that say listen to this, it is important.” — Gary Provost

 “An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered.” G.K. Chesterton

 “A  good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures for anything.” –Irish Proverb

 Outside my window:

 Oh I do believe it’s a winds day! Well, not quite windy enough for a proper “Winds Day” but I am quite pleased with my Winnie the Pooh quote so I shall leave it there.

From the kitchen:

 Almost lunch time.

 A few plans for the rest of the week:

 Finish Gone With the Wind.

Listen to Frank Sinatra and the Andrews Sisters.
Study for SAT.
Take SAT.
Have mental breakdown from the strain.
Watch the film version of Gone with the Wind.
Write.
Go to work.
Shelve books.
Think many thoughts.
Sleep.
Lots and lots of sleep.

A picture thought I'm sharing: