I would just like to say that I would NOT have made a good pioneer.


Really.


I’m way too fond of modern conveniences like coffee makers, central heating, and indoor plumbing.  How did those poor people face the day without a nice hot shower?  Lyndon B. Johnson, our former president who wasn’t even a pioneer, said, “Every man has the right to a Saturday night bath.”  Really?  Once a week?


Not only that, but as soon as cold weather hits I’m all about staying warm.  I don’t know about you, but heading out into sub-zero temperatures to fetch water and slop the hogs wearing nothing but buffalo skins or whatever does not sound fun.  No down jackets or GORE-TEX or thermacheck fleece for the pioneers!


So it may come as a surprise to you that I like to write my first drafts by hand.


That’s right.  Good ol’ pen and paper.


There is something about physically writing down the words that helps the cogs turn.  I like the feel of the pen in my hand moving across the paper as the words flow from my mind.  Somehow, it helps.  Once I’ve got a first draft, I type it into my high-tech very un-pioneer-like Mac book and revise from there.  But the initial ideas always begin as ink on paper.  Is that backward?  Or just quaint?


Now don’t go thinking I’m turning all old-fashioned on you.  I didn’t say parchment and quill.  I’m not about to trade in the Dogmobile (for the uninitiated, that’s my 2002 Toyota Sienna) for a horse and buggy.


Although I do love horses.


And actually, what with the holidays approaching, a sleigh and some jingle bells might be kind of fun…


Maybe there’s a hint of pioneer in me after all!  But I draw the line at slopping the hogs if I’m only going to get a bath on Saturday!


What about you?  Do you like to write on a computer or by hand?  What’s your favorite modern convenience – the reason you couldn’t be a pioneer?  Please share your comments!

Lest you be wondering why you did not hear from me Saturday or Sunday, let me hasten to assure you that I was NOT slacking off at the post!  (I know, I’m such a punster!)


Since this is my blog, I get to call the shots (mwa-ha-ha, such power!) and I have decided that I will post on weekdays when there is serious work to be avoided, and not on weekends when I can legitimately be away from my desk without feeling guilty 🙂  Good plan, no?  And I intend to stick with it until I change my mind, which may happen at any moment!


Now, on to today’s important topic:  Mondays.


Poor Mondays.  They get such a bad rap.  Through no fault of their own, everyone hates them.


Except me.  Being just a tad contrary by nature, I actually like Mondays!  Mondays are like morning:  full of possibility.  Who knows what good things could happen this week?  I could get a great idea and write the best story I’ve ever written!  My agent could call and say the four little words that are music to my ears – I’ve got an offer!  I could know all the answers to the Sporcle Minute Morsel!


I realize my fondness for Mondays springs from the fact that I am one of the fortunate few who love what they do.  Which is not to say it’s easy.  As A.A. Milne said, “Ideas may drift into other minds, but they do not drift my way. I have to go and fetch them. I know no work manual or mental to equal the appalling heart-breaking anguish of fetching an idea from nowhere.”  Truer words were never spoken!


Except these by Elizabeth Berg:  “What you have to be is in love. With writing. Not with ideas about what to write; not with daydreams about what you’re going to do when you’re sucessful. You have to be in love with writing itself, with the solitary and satisfying act of sitting down and watching something you hold in your head and your heart quietly transform itself into words on a page.”


I guess it’s about achieving balance.  Writing is hard work.  You have to love it to do it.  But although it can be frustrating and difficult, it can also be so satisfying and rewarding that it can make every day, even Monday, worthwhile!


Share your views in the comments!  What’s your favorite day of the week and why?  What’s writing like for you – pleasure, pain, or somewhere in between?  And, perhaps most importantly, how good are you at Sporcle?!