The Book Stacks

And here is my second forfeit, as promised for you winning the Monday book title game.

This is a poem I wrote in early 2006 while I still fancied myself a bit of a poet. The story behind this is that I was/am very shy and there was a hangout on campus that I wanted to into very much, but I was intimidated by the ‘regulars’. Eventually, I did go inside…

Enjoy.

Coffee Shop Poet Wannabe
by JM

Door stalked, admired, cursed
from across the tar and cracked pavement.
Should I? Could I? Dare I? Oh, yes,
for today, my sweet coffee shop,
today is the day of reckoning.

Jingle-jingle, jingle-jingle of the door.
Ah, a new girl, just a little bit of something,
perhaps sweet or perhaps spice
for the usual, eccentric pot.

“Um, I’d like a bottle of water please,”
as if the purchase of water
is a sensible action rather than
a dollar twelve for a plastic bottle.

“And the turkey…” mumbling ‘sandwich.’
“The turkey panini with the gouda?”
Go with the gouda! Go with the gouda!
Don’t break code! Possible emergency evacuation!

“Yes please,” and with no voice wobble,
no long stares, just glances and whispers.
Thank the benevolent coffee shop deities
for their small yet wondrous favors.

Order filled? Empty table? Affirmative.
Sitting down slowly, laser beam stares.
‘Flannel shirt, blue jeans, foreign body accepted,’
and a return to muffled conversation.

Put down my water, sandwich, and notebook.
A notebook? Ah. Acceptance melting into welcome.
Losing myself in the words, objective completed,
writing, wondering what the hell a panini is.

Hello everyone!

Please forgive the lateness of this post, but you know how it is during the holidays.

Last Monday, you all did extremely well and got enough book titles listed to make me forfeit. Last week’s word was ‘true’ and you got twenty-six of the twenty-five you needed.

As promised, here is one half of the forfeit. This is a story I wrote in second grade, typed completely with run-on sentences, spelling errors, grammatical errors, and lack of punctuation beyond periods and the one apostrophe.

I hope you enjoy this untitled forfeit… The poem will be coming soon.

Once upon a time a long time ago about 700 years ago there was a castle with a cave by it. There was a lazy dragon in the cave. Going back to the castle there was a knight. He did not do anything becuase there was nothing to do.

But when he heard about the dragon living in the cave next door, He got out his armar and he went to fight the a mean dragon.

He got to the cave. He looked at the dragon. He ran away. When he got to his castle he talked to himself. He said that he had to be brave. I can’t just look at a dragon and say he is to hard to fight.

He got on his armor. He got his horse redy. He went to kill the dragon and he did.

Aww, see? Isn’t that sweet? I knew how to write a moving story even back then.

I have been working my way through my files and stacks of paper lately for a myriad of reasons. I have been looking for my “Mice are Nice” poems and I just generally want to find the various surfaces in my office. Before you ask, no I still haven’t found the poems. I have, on the other hand, located one item of particular interest to me. You see, I have all of the files that my parents kept while I was growing up. I have a folder containing random pieces of art from Preschool up through the infamous painting class I took in High School. There is a folder containing every sort of award imaginable. And also in this stack I found my report card from first grade.

Now, I expect that some of you folks are now saying to yourselves: ‘Big deal. What does your report card from so long ago have to do with writing?’ Well, I’ll tell you. When was the last time you took a look at your old report cards? Do you remember those little notes that teachers used to put at the bottom? You know. The ones that said things like: “runs with scissors” or “plays well with others.” Remember those? On my First Grade Report Card, Ms. Martin wrote, in the spot set aside for the 2nd quarter: “Elisa is generally a hard worker but is slow in completing written work.”

When I re-read this report card that little note struck me as quite amusing. I was slow at completing written work all of those years ago, and it really hasn’t changed. Ms. Martin was the coolest teacher. She taught us to weave, and there was a loft in her classroom. It was in her class that we put on the play in which I got to play General Border. If there was anyone I would have worked hard to excel for, it would have been her. So I am left with the knowledge that, as in the slightly mangled quote above, some parts of me have not changed in all this time. I still spend a lot of time deciding what to write. I argue with myself over word usage and the sure knowledge that I am starting too many sentences in the same way. I take a long time completing my written work, because I want the end product to be perfect, or as close as I can make it. Sometimes I’ll even hum a song Mr. Rogers used to sing to remind myself that faster isn’t always better.

“I like to take my time. I mean that when I want to do a thing, I like to take my time to do it right…” - Mr. Rogers

Yes, I am a bit of a perfectionist, but I try not to let that stop me from finally getting those words on paper. Because if you work hard on your writing, perhaps someday you will receive the grown up equivalent of the note from the fourth quarter of that same year.

“It has been a pleasure having Elisa in my class this year.”

And really, how much more can you ask for from life?

I write therefore I am…even if it takes me a while.

Kwai Chang Caine, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, poems, writing, Mr. Rogers

There are many reasons that people might find writing difficult. Perhaps, like my mother, you just don’t like writing. You may not be feeling inspired. Performance anxiety or perfectionism could be standing in your way. Maybe you’ve been staring at a blank page so long that you are certain that you suffer from writer’s block. My biggest problem with writing has always been getting my thoughts in order. It could be deadlines staring me in the face, or just a really stressful day. That’s all it takes to turn my brain into mush. What do I do when faced with any of these situations? (Yes, except for the disliking writing, I’ve been there.)

• If it’s inspiration you need (or clearing up some of those niggling little errors in your writing style), you could head over to Fiction Scribe. JM will get you on the right track.
• Write Anyway is a great place to go if you’re not even sure where to start. Teri offers some great writing warm-up to get your brain working.
• Go see a film. It’s strange, but sometimes when I find myself unable to figure out “what happens next” seeing any sort of film will get my creativity going again.
• Try a change of scenery. Take your notebook and go to the park, the library, or a coffee shop.
• Go do something else, but take your notebook with you. I’ve gotten more ideas while folding laundry or working in the kitchen.
• Take a shower or bath. Douglas Adams would agree with me on this one. The closer he was to the end of a project, the more baths he took. For me, the shower is like inspiration point. I’m still trying to figure out the best way to record thoughts in there, though (now that I can’t make my little sister sit in there and take notes for me…yes, I was an evil big sister. Sorry, Dani).
• Stop worrying about every little thing! Get it written down, and edit it later when you’re done. I am Queen of “But…that’s passive voice” and “wait, I just started two sentences the same way.” Just write it down and move on. It’s too easy to get bogged down in the details.
• Just can’t face that story you’re working on? Go work on a different one for a while. Sometimes working on another story will give you a new idea for the first one.

The best way to get used to writing is to sit down and do it. I was the worst procrastinator until I got this blogging job. I still find it hard to get my thoughts in order, but I *am* writing something every day. Slowly, it’s becoming easier. So get out there and write something! Be it a blog post, poem, novel, or short story, just get some words on paper. That way, someday I may have something new to read and review.

writing, Fiction Scribe, Write Anyway, Douglas Adams