Saturday, May 26, 2012

Saturday Silliness

I have my nose buried in my manuscript, making one more proofreading pass. After a few hours of this, I get a little bit goofy. Here's what happens.

1.  At page 165, my rear end starts to hurt. I realize I should stand up and stretch.

2.  My neck and shoulders hurt too. I consider taking a walk.

3.  My right hand, the one that's tightly gripping my red pen, hurts. I decide to use that as my excuse for not fixing a meal tonight.

4.  Thinking about what restaurant to choose makes me hungry. I run through a list of possible snacks...

5.  Then notice it's almost time to feed the cat. I decide to wait and do my stretching and walking after she's fed.

6.  Or just take a long break.  Or a nap.

7.  Or water the garden. I noticed some of the seeds were sprouting when I took out the garbage this morning.

8.  Remembering the square where something is planted and starting to grow (but I can't remember what it is), I stare down at the printed page before me and start through the list of vegetables I wanted, hoping to recall...

9.  Oh, nuts. I see a run together sentence. Wait. I'm on page 175?

I flip back through the last ten pages and don't see even one editing mark. And that's when I realize I've been "reading" unconsciously for ten pages. Back to page 165. Focus.

10.  Katie the Cat races down the hall and screeches to a stop by my chair. She gives me the death stare, which means I'd better feed her right now or else. And then I'll stretch, take a walk, then a nap, water the garden, and return to page 165...again...later...or tomorrow.

10 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Funny! I can focus, but after a while my mind wanders as well. Sometimes it doesn't come back.

Anonymous said...

Pat - I think you must have a secret camera in my home office area or something! I do precisely the same thing. The only difference for me is that instead of a cat, I have two canine alarm systems who never fail to let me know when a package arrives. Oh, they have no compunctions about insisting on playtime, either...

Patricia Stoltey said...

Alex -- It's a little weird sometimes to go away for a while and then not remember where you've been. :D

Hi Margot. Yes, playtime is very important around here. When I opted for a cat instead of a dog, I got a big surprise about that. I always thought cats went off and did their own thing all the time. Not Katie.

Jemi Fraser said...

I've found 3 online recipes I want to try - and I should have been editing too :)

Lynn Proctor said...

well it sounds like you were multitasking in your head!

Patricia Stoltey said...

Jemi and Lynn...also playing a little Spider Solitaire. I sure hope I can focus better tomorrow. :D

Unknown said...

LOL ... The hazards of being a writer.

Donna Volkenannt said...

Ah, the life of a writer.

Stacy S. Jensen said...

Oh. I can relate to this.

Anonymous said...

I loved this, esp. the drifting over 10 pages!