I've spent the last couple of weeks in a frenetic blur between a very busy job, trying to get ready to go away and as such my actual writing time has been curtailed (as has my reading time, my running time) but even in the chaos, the little voices inside me have been murmuring and I've had a couple of real a-ha moments.
The first came during about 15 minutes of down time that I had to spend reading. I picked up Richard Wagamese's One Story, One Song. This book speaks about the connectedness of all of humanity and how all of our stories and songs are really the same. In describing the special gifts of individual animals and birds Wagamese struck a chord with a story about crow's gift of the gab. Crow's special gift, according to the teachings of Wagamese's people is the ability to help animals communicate their needs to other animal spirits - crow is an interpreter of sorts. Okay, what does that have to do with me? Well, I often feel I play a similar role especially related to writing; creating a contest connecting professional writers, fledgling writers and newspaper readers is a good example of that. I have always had an affinity for crows and I wonder if this is why.
The second came during a dog walk. Sometimes, my mind wanders very far rather than paying attention to the little beast on the end of the leash with me. I realized that I spend way too much time and energy on process. When I have an idea or something I want to say, my brain instantly jumps to the how, not the what or the why and that may be detrimental. Again, this fits with my personality - I love figuring out processes and putting them into action. As the guy from the A-Team says "I love it when a plan comes together." Maybe in terms of my own storytelling and writing I'm TOO organized and TOO stuck out the process. I have to admit, part of the allure of writing is the fact that every piece or project has a different process.
Before I dash off on a road trip to Sparwood (yes, the town that was in the news not too long ago) for a couple of family get-togethers, I wanted to post that So You Think You Can Write is officially an award-winning contest. Last week it won an award for product innovation. The award is given out annually by our Director of Advertising (along with other awards like top revenue-generating territory, etc). It was an honour, as support staff in the department, to have something so dear to me recognized.
