I've always been the sort of person who took the tried and true path.
Study hard in school so you can get into college, I was told.
Check.
Study hard in college so you get a good job, they said.
Check.
Work hard at your job so, well, you keep it and further your career, I told myself.
In process.
I take life seriously. I try to follow my role models' advice. I listened to my mom when she told me to wear my hat in the winter. Ate my carrots.
I do X, Y, and Z, with the expectation that it will result in the alphabet.
Probably 90% of the time it works. I have a steady and reliable income. I have a roof over my head. I have friends.
I go to the doctor. I watch what I eat (most of the time). I go to yoga. You get what you put into it. Want to feel relaxed? I know the steps it takes to get there. Now I'm not trying to imply that I'm perfect, because of course, I'm not. I don't always take the right actions, but I pretty much know the HOW if I want to get there. The basic things in life anyways.
Do this, get that. Don't speed, you don't get a speeding ticket.
But a few observations:
1. It can make life a bit boring
2. I create the illusion that A will always result in B and life just isn't always like that, which leads to disappointment.
3. I'm not very spontaneous. The rare occasions I have been spontaneous, I've loved it. Which should tell me something.
So my point?
The tried and true path REALLY doesn't work with certain things.
Case in point: my writing.
I have been following a specific route, but I keep bonking my head against a concrete wall. I get an idea for a story, I start at the beginning, I write a handful of pages, and
I'm Bored.
I quit.
I'm stuck.
Then I get depressed...
Now sometimes you just have to plunge forward I've heard. And it may be partly because of my life long dear friend, Perfection. Can you hear my syrupy sarcasm?? Drip drip.
But- I really think I need to think "outside the box." Mix it up. Try something new. And realize, there's not a tried and true single way.
I've always thought linearly (is that a word? sounds strange in my head and as I'm muttering it in under my breath). You start with the beginning, go to the middle and finish at the end. But what if that's not going to result in the masterpiece that I dream about?
So I'm going to toy with it. Write a random scene. Start at the end. Free associate. Whatever it takes. I found a book called The Weekend Novelist that I'm hoping will help me with this. It has an exercise called "Writing down the page" that I found intriguing.
Luckily, I also have a creative side, and although, rusty, I haven't lost it. It's just a matter of giving little Miss Analytical-Logical a vacation.
