Whatever that means.  Ok, I’m well aware what it means.  Though I’m not a Happy New Year Scrooge, I also don’t embrace the whole start over and make a resolution thing.  On the way home from an errand recently, I experienced a prophetic moment.  “Roadhouse Blues” by the Doors came on the radio.  As I slapped my thigh in rhythm, the lyrics took on a new meaning for me.

“Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel.”  Well, duh.  But at that moment I thought it was brilliant.  I wasn’t making a resolution, I was singing a song.  It’s important for me right now to focus.  My current writing project is at the stage that it has become a bit of a chore.

It pains me to admit that it’s tedious.  A non-fiction project, the fun for me has been gathering the research.  Poring over hundreds of old newspaper articles is fun for me.  Tracking down elusive reference sources is like solving a mystery.  Putting the information together in my head is enjoyable.  It’s the translation to the page that is lackluster.

My method of writing is old-school.  I write best in longhand.  That’s how I learned.  Pushing a pen across the paper is comforting to me.  And yes, that means I have the extra work of typing it in.  I loathe typing.  I’m not kidding.  It’s just so god-awful boring.  As soon as I begin to feel a tad bored, my focus dissipates and my mind wanders.  It snaps back quickly as I challenge myself to edit as I type.  For me, it makes my writing better.

But I challenged myself to type this chapter directly into the computer.  Bad move.  I estimate it’s taking 2-3x longer for me to complete this chapter.  Live and learn.  From now on, when my mind starts to wander I will channel the Doors.