Sanguine Tenacious Tidings

The Finished Product Is?

Motivational Monday! The late comedian Don Rickles, born on this day back in 1926, once said "You throw your best punch; otherwise, don't do it." How do you get through writing something on the days when your best punches aren't working for you?

I walk away. There is usually one or two books open to read. Or, I clean house, barn, yard, do some gardening. Most of the time, even when I'm reading the writing is simmering on the back of my mind. I might look up from a book I'm reading. Immediately, whatever I'm suppose to be writing takes over my thoughts. It's a little like moving between rooms. Plus, I often have two or three books ready and marked so I can pick them up and continue into the reading.
Sometimes, I fade out and stare out the window by my desk. It just depends on the why writing isn't getting worked on. If I'm working on something special maybe I don't have enough info.

Then, google helps. I put in something in the search involving the subject and resort to journalism research. For instance, radio waves, this is a broad subject. You look up a lot of different websites about radio waves. Then, you write down descriptive words or phrases about the subject. Pick one or two facts than interest you and discard the other 95% of the work. Go into those particular facts with more research pretty soon you pick up a thread of knowledge that maybe you did not think about before. If its fiction does it have something to do with one of your characters? Can you weave it into the story? Will it catch the interest of your reader?

When you describe your scene you will most likely end up with more than 500 words on a bad day.

Looking out my window:

It's really early for a walk today. She picked up her walking stick and headed out anyway. The sun was shining brightly as she started out. There were waves of heavy cumulus clouds rolling in from the west. The sun rising in the eastern blue sky caused the fifty foot high tulip tree to cast a narrow long shadow across the ground in a westerly direction. Heavy frost from the morning had been laying across the early spring grass. Because of five days of constant unending waves of rain and mist the yard grass had grown above four inches. Even though, the gardener had mowed once this week between rain storms.

Looking out across the field I see clover, mixed with the growing trefoil, timothy, and other herbage. The site cast thoughts in my mind about harvest season. Timothy would win the battle with the shorter grasses. Eventually, it would head out when it reached three foot or more . Then, The hay mowers would move onto the field, casting the grass into long rows for the balers. Filling the barns with rich fodder to fatten livestock in the winter. Spring causes a riotous growth of grasses. Many fields already yield grass that is a foot high. Farmers start storing hay as early as June.

My walk had barely started, when the sun turned the frosted blanket of moisture stretching over the grass, into rich water soaked grass shining with dew. No chance for dry feet on this walk.


In this short piece I actually had to look up the names of some of the grasses that I can see growing in the hay field. I could now write a paragraph in the example about the way timothy grows. How it tastes and feels at different stages, What it looks like when it is dried in June, then later after it is stored how it feels in April of the next year when its best use is past.

Look at your subject. Is it your hand, your favorite dictionary, a cup full of pens and pencils on the desk, a new character? Your characters need reasons for doing things. Research the way people react to situations. Why do they laugh? What actually causes tears? Laughing people and crying people both produce tears.

Or, ask someone questions about whatever is on your mind. One of the funnest parts of journalism is having to interview people. You learn so much from their answers to questions. Can you use all this accumulated information? Probably not today but, who knows, maybe something you want to write tomorrow will click from information gathered today. Spend a day on research it is good motivator.

Writing.com taught me to look at a picture and write about it. Find a picture about your subject let it motivate you into words.

I read about a famous author who writes fiction. He has multiple stories open on his desk at one time. Whenever he gets a new idea he sits down and writes about it for awhile. So, I guess you should not be afraid to sit down and start something then drop it for awhile.

I hope this meets the prompt or helps someone get started if their writing is stalled.