The Complicated Process of Writing and Living

August 23, 2012 Off By Lisa

My first reaction to Mama Kat’s writing prompts this week was, “Oh, I definitely have to do the one about what complicates my life because that’s easy.”

Fab Hub raised his eyebrows and looked at me over the top of his glasses like He does.  This look usually means one of two things:

  1.  He is doubtfully and/or cautiously curious about what I have just said, in which case he will say something like, “Really? How so?” or “Really?  And why is that?”
  2. I am doing something ridiculously goofy or endearingly annoying.  In this case he will say, “Hon.  Really?”

And so he spoke:

“Really?  And why is that?”

I know he was expecting me to say something about how He complicates my life.  (Well, He does, but in the best possible way.  That’s another story.)

Me:  “It’s easy because the thing that most complicates my life is me.  My Self.”

FH:  “You.  You complicate your life?

Me:  “Yeah.  Come on, you know I get in my own way all the time.”

Silence.

So then I started thinking…

I could write about all the ways that I complicate my own life, but some of it might spin just a little too much toward the side of personal.  And then I started thinking that divulging the ways in which I complicate my own life will probably make anybody who reads the post think I am completely out of my mind.

Sigh.  What are the other prompts?  Writing process – write about your writing process.  OK, I can do that.  Wait.  I don’t have a process.  My writing process is like an anti-process.  Sometimes I draft, sometimes I whip something out off the top of my head.  Other days I get an idea, let it fester in my brain for a few days, do some mental work on it and then sit down to write it out.  Sometimes I stick a draft on the shelf for a long time and go back to it several times, editing and revising endlessly.  Sometimes I just get an idea and twenty minutes of stream-of-consciousness later I hit the publish button.

So I started thinking…

If I put up a post about my writing process – or lack thereof – anybody who reads the post will probably think I have no business writing anything for public viewing.  Writers have a process, not a whirlwind romance with a half-baked idea and a keyboard.

Sigh.  Let me look at those other prompts…  I knew it!  I was right the first time!  I have to write about how I am the thing that most complicates my life because it’s completely true!  Don’t believe me?  Just read this post again and see the Master at Work.

So here’s the truth.  Most of the complications I encounter in my day are the result of my own over-thinking process.  I can over-think just about anything, regardless of the size of the issue.  I prefer to look at it as creative problem solving, covering all my bases, or making sure all my little ducks are lined up in a happy little row.

And what if one of them gets out of line? Or another turns out to be an alligator and not a duck after all?  Well, either I’ll kick him right back into place or chase him around for a little while first.  Or maybe I’ll just let him be an alligator today.

Either way, the job gets done.  Nobody goes hungry.  Nobody leaves the house naked.  So what if the overall process is a little bit messy?  Life is messy.  Life is a work in progress – a draft that can always be revised and shaped.  The best part of writing happens in the re-writing, in the process.

So do the best parts of life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks to Mama Kat for this week’s writing prompts!  Click on the box and check out some more great posts on her site!

Mama’s Losin’ It

CategoryLife
Tagsattitude funny stuff life thoughts writing

About The Author

Lisa A. Listwa is a self-employed writer with experience in education, publishing, and the martial arts. Believing there was more to life than punching someone else’s time clock and inspired by the words of Henry David Thoreau, she traded her life as a high school educator for a life as a writer and hasn’t looked back. She is mother to one glorious handful of a daughter, wife to the nicest guy on the planet, and reluctant but devoted owner of three Rotten Cats. You can find her adventures and thoughts on living life deliberately here on the blog.

19 Comments

  • King Sparkle says:
    August 23, 2012 at 8:31 am

    You clearly have an internal locus of control, which separates you from 85% of humanity. Claiming responsibility for creating your own problems is 50% of the way to solving them. And people that use percentages in their comments are 100% annoying. Great blog entry today, by the way. 🙂

  • Tomekha says:
    August 23, 2012 at 8:49 am

    Ooooh Hon I LOVE this post! 🙂 (#secret I have the self same ‘writing process’ – very erratic. LOL)

  • May says:
    August 23, 2012 at 10:13 am

    Fun, fun, fun! My laugh out loud moments….Not a whirlwind romance with a half-baked idea and a keyboard. (this laughter might have been self-conscious as I recognized myself a little too clearly!)
    and
    Read this post again and see the master at work.

    Great stuff!

  • Dianna says:
    August 23, 2012 at 3:11 pm

    Hi! Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment today. It doesn’t really matter how you made it to my blog; I’m glad you did!
    Great post today for Mama Kat’s prompt. I haven’t participated in awhile: just haven’t seen a prompt I thought I could write about.

  • Dakotapam says:
    August 23, 2012 at 7:28 pm

    I think that a lot of us are our own worst enemies! And, you saw my writing process:) I think, in the end, each writer has her own road to follow. We have to teach a set process, because, well, that is what teachers do. Thanks for stopping by my place today!

    • The Meaning of Me says:
      August 23, 2012 at 10:31 pm

      And thanks right back! 🙂 I often think that it is important to know writing rules and processes so that we can make an informed decision about how they will – or won’t – work for any individual. Then we can decide when to follow or to break them.

  • Essie says:
    August 23, 2012 at 9:09 pm

    AMEN. My writing process is much the same- in that there is no process! 🙂

  • Classic NYer says:
    August 24, 2012 at 1:05 pm

    First of all, may I say that the way you put this post together is incredibly clever. Second of all, I think I speak for all of us when I say that we don’t have any problem at all with you being completely out of your mind. That just means you’re one of us. Third, cutest. Alligator. EVER. Fourth… I’m sure there was a fourth thing, but I can’t remember what it was.

    • The Meaning of Me says:
      August 24, 2012 at 2:18 pm

      Thanks for the copmliment on the post! Your comment cracked me up – I absolutely would have forgotten the fourth thing, too. My husband also loves the alligator. So glad you stopped by. 🙂

  • Kenya G. Johnson says:
    August 25, 2012 at 9:20 am

    So when you were over-thinking what to write for this post did you slip into my? subconscious mind? Wow! Loved it. I am especially love that photo.

    • The Meaning of Me says:
      August 25, 2012 at 11:02 am

      I have been accused of doing that to people on more than one occasion. 🙂 Thanks so much for coming by, Kenya. Loved your site, by the way; looking forward to reading more.

  • carol says:
    August 25, 2012 at 9:57 pm

    Clever and well said for all of us that can relate. Loved your post! I smiled all the way through it.

  • One Word | The Meaning of Me says:
    January 9, 2013 at 12:56 am

    […] is. It was from the second I decided on it, which was almost right away. But because I am Me and I tend to get in my own way fairly often, I made an attempt at re-thinking my […]

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