Monday, August 6, 2012

Rules to live by

I've been working with a book idea lately which I think really has potential. The only problem is I'm having a lot of trouble working the kinks out, sifting through all my ideas to find the inconsistencies and plot holes, learning about each character and really just trying to find out how each aspect will work.

If I wasn't so stubborn and determined I would've given up long ago. I can totally understand why writing isn't for everyone, especially when you hit snags before you even write the first sentence!

I was trying to figure out what it was that made me so determined to see things through.

When I was a kid I would go on crazy cleaning rampages. I'd choose one of those junk drawers that 98% of the population seems to have, tip everything out and I'd be brutal. A good portion of the stuff in the drawer would end up as garbage. Those that were allowed to remain in the 'world of the living' were ordered neatly in the drawer.

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This is generally the sort of junk I'd have spread all over the house! Image by David Bleasdale

My mum (or mom if you're American... which I'm not so i'll continue on with mum) used to groan whenever I started one of my cleaning rampages. I couldn't understand why she wasn't happy that I was cleaning!

One day after I'd emptied three junk drawers simultaneously and was slowly making progress on working through all the junk when mum walked into the room looking unimpressed.

I finally asked why she was annoyed whenever I started cleaning. She said it wasn't the cleaning she was annoyed about, it was the fact I never managed to finish a task that I started. So I'd pull all the junk out of the draw, work away for a while, then get bored and leave the room messier than when I started.

After she said that I realised she was right. From that moment on I swore I'd see things through. That was when I was seven. Since then 99% of the time I've kept my word. I don't like leaving tasks unfinished. If I start something, I have to make sure i'll be able to finish it first.

It's just one of those rules I live by. What are the rules you live by?

Photo credit - Moi :D

2 comments:

  1. You've kept that up since you were 7? That's great! I need to do something like that, I'm so bad at leaving things unfinished. And if you've got that much determination to see things through, how can you not win?

    I'm sure I have rules I live by, but I can't think of any off the top of my head except never depriving myself of chocolate when I want it. At least a little ;)

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    1. Haha yes! I really didn't like being told I never finished things I started! Fingers crossed it pulls through for me!!

      Ooh never depriving yourself of chocolate is a good one! I love chocolate!

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