WHAT'S A WRITER TO DO?

     by Steve Pease/Michael Chandos 

     A short one tonight, I'm afraid. I've been sick for a week with a chest cold and didn't do anything interesting except cough.  I didn't do new writing. I could see my head was spinning, and anything I wrote was bound to be a logical mess. So what's a writer to do?

     Any creative work is non-romantic. The flashy part, for me, happens in my head out of sight. Ideas pop up, words flow, clever writing magically falls together on the page.  Inspiration is really a fun time. That's only 10% of the time.

     For a working writer, there's Work. Editing, format checking, balancing First Reader comments, and the editor's apparent lack of understanding. Filing, paying bills, researching, hunting for coffee creamer, answering the telephone. It's office work. I add regular exercise, dog walks, and decent breaks.  

     So, this week, as I shuffled around in my bathrobe, I did lots of little things. Going thru magazines and tearing out the articles that count. Filing things, playing an old and familiar computer game, and trying to use the treadmill. The weather last week cooperated: cold, wet, even snowy, and very windy. 

     I put out Friskies for the feral cat, was glad the weather kept me inside and not in the yard picking up the dog mines.  Better today, but I can tell the train is still off the tracks.  Better next time.