Twist Ties & Writing: ROW80 Update

The perfect toy. A huge smile on my child's face.

"Mommy, mommy, can I please have it. Please!"

Patience and childhood don't often mix. (Heck, patience and being an adult don't love each other either. At least for me.)

I tear open the box. Yank and pull to get the plastic out. Finally, success. Oh, but wait. Each piece is twist-tied into the plastic in some wickedly intricate maze. Dare I get scissors? Grand idea, but some of the twist-ties are so tightly bound that cutting could ruin the piece.

My children watch, anticipation mixed with frustration.

Fifteen minutes later, if I'm lucky, the small hairbrush and barrette finally break free. I dry the tears, both mine and my daughter's. My salivating child takes her bounty and runs. I'm left with clear rubber bands, twist-ties, plastic, box pieces, a strong desire for a stiff drink and... not one toy to play with.

And God help you if it's a birthday party or Christmas morning. This scenario gets played and replayed until I swear I'm going to write each and every toy company and ask what they have against the human race.

What does this have to do with my A Round of Words in 80 Days (ROW80) Update? Or about the progress of my writing?

SO. Much.

I clear the time to write. Focus on the prize of continuing story. I sit down, open up the document, read through the last chapter or so, crack my knuckles, and get ready to write. The story is in my head, but trying to wrangle it from there unto the piece of paper is so much like twisting each of those ties round and round. You turn it one way to realize it's getting too tight, then you go the other direction and free it, only to find there are four more twist-ties holding it in place.

Characters fight with me. Words fail me, or sometimes come at me so fast I can't capture them. Scenes unfold in my head, so clear. But I have to translate them into words so a reader can see the same replay. More twist-ties.

And, yes, I do see writing in most any day-to-day activity (and being a mom, especially).

Do you ever catch your stories creeping into the oddest, or most mundane, moments of day-to-day life?

ROW80 Update

Writing: Monday we spent eight hours in the car. But I used my Tuesday. 2,123 words, split between a couple of projects. Now I need to focus on unwrapping one story at a time, and not getting so excited by ideas that I flutter from project to project. Phone rings... ah, let's write on the YA. Laundry signal beeps. Ooh, back to women's fiction.

Editing: Had an unexpected, and interesting, project come up. Finished. Now back to my backlog. Slowly making progress. Tomorrow is editing day.

Blogging: Daily here. Blogathon wraps up tomorrow, but then I'm onto the Author Blog Challenge. Mom in Love with Fiction has suffered this week, but those words needed to go to the WIP.

Social Media: Overwhelmed. Challenges are wonderful, inspiring me in so many ways. But they also bring many wonderful bloggers into my life. Now if only I had more hours in a day.

Reading: Finished a book and started another. Reviews to come.

Exercise: I'm proud to say I will take this goal off the next Round. I've been so dedicated to exercise that it's become like eating. I can't imagine not doing it. If it starts to wane, I can always add the goal back in. Success.