My Quote For The Day: Get Out Of The Shower

So last week I shared a quote that dealt with sweat - as in doing the work to get things done. Today's quote touches upon the ideas we sometimes have in the shower, or more specifically, what you do "Getting Things Done" post from last week. I came across today's quote while reading Melissa A. Schilling's book, "Quirky: The Remarkable Story of the Traits, Foibles, and Genius of Breakthrough Innovators Who Changed the World.

Ferris Bueller in a classic shower scene

afterwards. The quote builds on my

Everyone who's ever taken a shower has had an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it who makes a difference. - Nolan Bushnell

C'mon... the intro scene to Ferris Bueller's Day Off is classic!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KFVLWX7eEY
My previous Quote For The Day: Sweat

My Quote For The Day: Sweat

In keeping with the theme of my "Getting Things Done" post, here's this bit of inspiration from The Writer's Little Instruction Book: 385 Secrets for Writing Well & Getting Published, by Paul Raymond Martin.

In writing (as in most endeavors) sweat rules over inspiration. 

Do the work. Just do it. Don't wait for inspiration.

One Reason Why It's A Good Day

In the middle of cooking dinner... What else?

I have some of the kids reading, some watching a movie. Earlier it was quite the task to get them to clean the entertainment room and the inevitable spillover of toys and books in the living room, dining room, the halls, the bathrooms...sigh!... OK, every square inch of the house.

That all done, I sat on the couch (I mean, reclined) and read. I found a Tennessee Williams quote about his sister that struck me. So, I grabbed my notebook to jot it down and my thoughts on it. The quote made me think of a scene for my characters. Then I fell asleep.

Only for five minutes, because the kids started fighting about whose turn it was on the video game.

The one reason why it was a good day: I was able to find the inspiration to write. Even if you only get a few minutes, write. If you do today or tomorrow or next week, then consider it a good day.

Looking For Writing Inspiration?

The last two days I have been nibbling at another part of my Mall Demons Urban Fantasy Series (Read the 1st part by following the link). Just kinda left it on the screen of my netbook, then in between chores and other duties, I've come back to it.


Today I left it on the arm of the couch. My fourth grader saw it and decided to offer some scene suggestions. I sat down at one end of the couch watching her tap away at the keyboard. Chicken peck because she doesn't know how to touch type yet.


Funny to see her go. It was just before dinner. It was her turn to do the dishes. Usually they have to drop everything to complete their chores. This time, however, I was fascinated at what I was seeing. I told her to go do the dishes.


"OK, but I have so many ideas. I have to write them down first," she replied without looking up from the keyboard.


I sat watching her tap away for about 20 minutes. Every so often she would ask me a question.


"How do you spell 'suddenly?'"


"What else did you want the angels to do in this scene?"


"Is Evangeline in this part?"


After a few more minutes, she handed me my netbook asking whether I was going to include her suggestions. She had typed several paragraphs. I told her I would look at what she wrote.


It was inspiring. It made me grateful for my passion. To see how it has affected my daughter was exciting. I needed that today. This was the inspiration I needed to keep writing tonight. I know tomorrow morning she will wake up and ask me if I'm done with my draft. She will ask me if I used her stuff. I'll have to figure that one out.


Have you made an impact on someone with your writing? Has someone inspired you to keep writing? Share your stories in the comments section below.

What's Under Your Couch? Evidence of Your Twisted Writing Habits!

I was cleaning up last night when I got a sudden urge to check under the couch to see what might be hidden there. Here's what I found at 2 a.m. (Don't laugh):

Books
An illustrated history of America
A Jeff Foxworthy paperback (You might be a redneck...)
A poetry anthology
A volume of a 2-volume set on Epistemology
A Greek lexicon
A woodworking how-to manual
An analysis of the U.S. presidency during the 1960s
A guide to fruits (in Spanish)
A Calvin and Hobbes collection
And... a children's picture book (more on this later).

But wait... there's more. Hidden in the dark depths under the couch also were an old Star Wars calendar, a booklight (with batteries that worked!), a baseball, origami paper (oh yeah, and an origami book), two pencils, an unused green twisty tie, kneaded rubber (for sketching, or more for erasing my darned sketching errors), two plastic pencil sharpeners and three paper clips.

After reading that list, I don't even know where to begin with the explanations. How many of my writing projects are represented in this list? I can say they absolutely represent the fits of so-called writing inspiration that sometimes hit me at 2 a.m.

Don't you just love the manic art of writing!