Hamburger or Hot Dog?

That question in the title engendered about two hours' worth of discussion yesterday. Amazing.

Not sure if I have any profound advice today. I have the Weebls Scotch egg song in my head going round and round on loop.

I did finally get some writing done yesterday--about 2,300 words' worth. This is your cue to applaud and smile. Thank you, thank you.

Looking back on my fiction journals, I found an entry I spent musing over some advice. Said advice was that you should write at the same time every day. I don't do that. I tried for a while though. I thought, "Hm. 9:00 am sounds good." So I tried it. And failed. Right now I write whenever I can. I really like to be mostly alone in the house. I don't like having to explain myself and break my concentration when someone walks up and asks me what I'm doing. Is that selfish and eccentric? Yes. Can I get over that? Maybe. My mom suggested I make a writing hat that I plop on my head whenever the creative juices were flowing. I laughed, immediately thinking of me sitting at my laptop with a dunce cap on. But now I'm thinking about it more, it might be a good idea. It could be a visual aid to those around me so I don't have to wrench myself back into the real world after trying so hard to delve into my imagination. That's probably really silly though. Any suggestions from other writers out there? Anybody? Hm, I think I'll put that thought on the back burner for now.

Here's part of a writing journal entry from 1/20/10:

I was reading Bird by Bird today, and I ran across a quote by Carolyn Chute which says, “I feel like a lot of the time my writing is like having about twenty boxes of Christmas decorations. But no tree. You’re going, Where do I put this? Then they go, Okay, you can have a tree, but we’ll blindfold you and you gotta cut it down with a spoon.” It made me laugh—maybe a little too loudly because other students inhabiting the same general area in the library shot me stern glances. Not only is that how I feel about my writing, particularly the plot lines, but it’s also how I feel about my life right now. Everything is working out, and I know I’ll be fine but I’m slowly realizing that Bird by Bird really is instructions on writing and life. You’d think I’d realize that right away since the cover states it plainly, but no.

For those of you who don't know, Bird by Bird is a book on fiction writing by Anne Lamott. It's incredible, helpful, and funny. I'll probably be reading it again soon.