Barb’s Hygiene Hypothesis:
Household cleanliness is inversely proportional
to daily
word production.
Whenever I am
procrastinating on a writing project, I tend to clean. I mean really go
at it — as in, there are times when my kitchen island would be a fine spot for
minor surgical procedures. So, if you
know I’m working on a project and don’t want to pay those exorbitant hospital
fees, have your physician give me a call.
Okay, maybe my
hypothesis only holds true for me, but…
I
once witnessed a neighbor polishing her mailbox until
it became a blinding road hazard. Let me add that we live on a dead-end street
10 miles from the nearest town.
I never asked the
burning why, but I have yet to see her name in print.
So there.
Well, the other day
I was Googling home cleaning tips (yeah, I’m working on a novel), when I
stumbled upon this gem —
“Pick any corner and work your way out.”
And I thought, wait
a minute…
That’s not a
cleaning tip — that’s a writing tip!
After all, the best
way to get started on a writing project is to pick a
corner — that wee wedge of
an idea — and GO!
That corner may
seem insignificant at first. In fact, it may seem like nothing at all, but it’s
actually a big SOMETHING — a GREAT place to start.
And all GREAT
writers know this.
J.R.R. Tolkien was
once grading exams, when midway through the stack he came upon a blank sheet.
He wrote down the first thing that popped into his head — “In a hole in the
ground there lived a hobbit.” What the heck is a hobbit? he
thought. But he had his corner.
We all know what
happened next.
So today when I
hear the sweet siren call of tile grout, wainscoting, or even… my
mailbox, I’ll head for that corner and work…
No, fight,
my way out.
PROMPT: In this
corner is the super heavyweight champion of the world — YOUR great idea! Start
there. Those filthy refrigerator coils can wait another day.
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