Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Keep it down will ya??

       
 
 
        My dream job goes a little something like this.....no commute to work, sitting at my computer for a good eight hours, trying to make some semblance of the ideas/thoughts/stories floating around in my head. I could work uninterrupted for hours on end. Even if I'm just throwing the ideas onto the page, at least they are out there, instead of running rampant in my mind, where they can literally wander forever. At least on paper they can't be lost and I can go back to them whenever and work on making something cohesive out of them. 




         I don't have that dream job.......yet. What I do have are small increments of time during which I try to cram these ideas onto paper or a computer screen. It's not easy or in any way ideal. Truth be told, it actually makes me a little crazy sometimes. See, things keep happening in my head no matter the time of day or what I'm doing. The characters keep talking, plot lines keep developing and they won't wait for a more "convenient" time. I do my best to tell them all to pipe down while I'm at work, but outside of that all bets are off. During the other hours of the day I keep a notebook with me and I'm always jotting things down, again to get them out of my head so they'll leave me alone. 





       Pulling out a notebook isn't always the most convenient idea however. For instance, on the back of a jet ski is not a good place for writing. Neither is dinner with friends, walking, running, Church or the dentist chair. As I've said before the ideas don't really care whether you have something else going on. They want to be heard and they are mighty darn persistent. So sometimes I give in and just listen for awhile to see what they have to say (and hopefully remember it all by the time I can write it down.)  


      Alright, I confess; there are times when I may completely zone out in the middle of something. If I do it while I am with you, I apologize. But until I have my dream job there's nothing I can do about it.....wonder what Mega Millions is up to now....



 ~ Adrienne

8 comments:

  1. Priceless! Definitely a great way to get your ideas across....keep them coming!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I hear ya! Or is that a voice in MY head? Anyway... for all intents and purposes I have that dream job, (w/out the big bucks however), and I still have trouble quieting the voices.

    My solution is to keep a small notebook with me 99% of the time plus my phone which has a notepad app. Whenever I get an idea or something happens that encourages me to explore further I jot it down somewhere, somehow, right away.

    A friend gave me this handy little gadget for my nightstand... a box shaped much like a phone w/ index cards inside and a light that comes on when you pull out the pen from the top. At least with that I have a better shot at deciphering what I wrote in the middle of the night than when I used to scribble in the dark.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @ Jackie - Thanks! I'm trying :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. @ Barbara - Thank God the voices don't seem to bother me at night (probably because they exhaust me during the day.)

    I do the notebook thing but the hard part really is those times when I'm in the middle of some kind of group function where it wouldn't be too polite to pull out the notebook. Guess that's where my blank stare comes into play.... :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. FROM THE TWO of US - What can we say because now you have taken us into another "realm"? Never knew you were hearing voices from another world or some where out there, it may be just your creative mind at work! Right now you have just wowed us and we say keep going cause some of them leave us at a loss for words to write a comment..Makes MOM & DAD Proud..........

    ReplyDelete
  6. @ Two of us - Could be lots you don't know about me.... Must go listen to the voices now. :) :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hence the name Jotter Girl. I have the bigger jotter which can be taken out most of the time. Then there is the little eensy weensy sized jotter with teeny tiny pen that I use for moments where I just need to make a note but it isn't the most appropriate place to do so. So far I've gone under the radar and nobody seems to notice.

    ReplyDelete
  8. @ Jotter - I like the under the radar reference...maybe I can create a waterproof jotter to take on the back of a jet ski...mmmmm :)

    ReplyDelete