Without meaning to offend, I had a really disturbing day today. The morning actually started out great. I got up and wrote 1500 words. Which I was quite pleased with, until I remembered the words of my least favorite literary agent at the Santa Barbara conference, who announced that you are not a serious writer (ergo I will not represent you!) unless you write at least 2500 words a day. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t such a great day. Maybe a good day?
Then I decided to read the book written by my favorite workshop leader/renowned writer, Sid Stebel, about how I can “double my creative power.” Several hours later, I realized that I basically had to go back to the drawing board and begin, if not anew, then the next best thing to anew. Writing prose, I am learning, is far different from writing screenplays. And wow, did I get the memo, finally, that exposition is a HUGE no no. Even, maybe especially, for prose. Okay then.
So at 5pm, I decided to call it a day and take a skinny dip with my pups. It’s only 120 degrees or thereabouts, so what a great time to have a swim in the pool. I threw the ball into the water for Herbie, and then started on my first lap. At the far end of the pool, I (almost) ran into a rather large, dead mouse floating belly up. Screaming and paddling back to the shallow end as fast as I could, I realized I was the only humanoid in AZ who could handle this crisis. Cursing H for being in CO while searching for the pool net, Roxie came up, proudly mouthing a dead (or more accurately pertrified) bird in her mouth.
Moral to the story? ALWAYS wear a bathing suit and ALWAYS check the pool before entering. Vino, anyone?
Jun. 28, 2013
Judy Richter 