Today, I'm in between writing and editing and I look up to see that my office is totally trashed- again. Don't get me wrong, I vacuum and dust it every week. But when I am in the throws of writing or editing things tend to pile up. I work around the piles gloriously able to ignore them. When I'm done, I look up and see that things are falling. Piles are mixing when they shouldn't. Then I know it's time to suck it up and start sorting and filing and boxing and wondering how the heck I never noticed that I had guns and knives falling out of my closet. (Okay, don't be scared. My office closet is a catchall for the house. I think I was digging for boxes and dumped misc. things out. Thus the son's hunting stuff ended up on the floor.)
Everyone has their own level of organization that needs to go on when they write. I usually start out spotless and the more I get into the work the worse my office gets. I dig through books for names and leave them open because I may need it again. I have research books and several style guides and dictionaries- my feet are on a pile of research books right now.
What is your level of comfort when you write/read?
Nancy - I thought that i was the only one who wrote this way… as the story gets organized and clarified on paper the world around me scatters and becomes a blur.
ReplyDeleteI had a glorious bunch of stuff happening around me, and finally had to stop and get it all into order. I couldn't stand it anymore!
ReplyDeleteNow I can start over again messing stuff up! It's in my nature.
When I'm writing, the entire house falls into chaos. Maybe if I never stop writing, I won't have to clean anything!
ReplyDeleteMarty- Ha~ From Morgan and Linda's comments this is pretty typical for writers.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do know writers who can't write in chaos and must clean first. Poor them.
Thanks for the comments everyone!
Ah, Nancy, this rings many bells... and Linda, maybe if you never stop writing you will just gradually vanish under a pile of papers, only traceable by the sound of your tapping fingers!
ReplyDeleteThe Time Sculptor