I'M GOING TO START MY WRITING by Penny Dolan

I'm posting this piece on Midsummer's Day but, by the time it appears on ABBA, I'll have just got back home from a week's writing retreat at Moniack Mhor Writing Centre near Inverness- and I'm very conscious that by then I should have made plenty of progress with the dreadful WIP that I've been muttering about for far too long.

Therefore, dear ABBA readers, to urge/shame/encourage me not to waste my time there, and maybe nudge a few other writers into better habits, here's a poetic reminder of how my daily writing life usually works out.  

 Good wishes and many good words to all of you during July! Here goes . . .

I’M GOING TO START MY WRITING

I’m going to start my writing

I’m working on a Big One,

I’m not scared!

What a great EMPTY day!

Uh-oh!

Dirty dishes!

Can’t leave them festering

Can’t leave them oozing.

Oh no.

Have to get them sorted.

Wishy washy . . . wishy washy . . .  wishy washy . .  .

I’m going to start my writing.

Uh-oh!

Emails! Long lists of emails!

Can’t just ignore them

Can’t just delete them.

Oh no!

Have to go all through them.

Hmmmm.. . . hmmm . . . hmmm . . . 

I’m going to start my writing! 

Uh-oh! 

Coffee!

Can’t start without it.

Can’t drink it boiling

Better with a biscuit.

Oh no!

Ought to check on Facebook.

Ought to read that blog-post . . . . . . .

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.

I’m Going To Start My Writing!!!

Uh-oh!

Maybe I’m really rubbish?

Need to get some help from

Stephen King On Writing

Rob McKee on Story.

Writer’s Journey, Vogler.

Basic Plots, Chris Booker.

Forest For Trees, B. Lerner.

Uh-oh! Sniff! Sob!

I’m feeling rather teary,

I’m feeling rather weary,

I’ll nap before beginning . . .

Zzzz . . . zzzz . . . .zzzz

Oh no!

Four o'clock!

I AM GOING TO START MY WRITING!

Get my act together.

 Wash my face with water.

Breath air in the garden.

Find the file and load it.

Open up the pages.

Now I’m getting started . . .

Now I AM beginning!

Look, I’ve done one sentence.

Now the words are flowing . . ..

Maybe I CAN do this?

Maybe do this Big One?

Uh-oh!
"HIYAAAAA! HIYAAAAA! HIYAAAAA!"

Oh NO!!!!

Everyone’s home early!

Try to look SO happy,

Happy with such kindness. 

Make that smile a big one.

(Make that drink a big one?)

Think about tomorrow . . .

Tomorrow’s good for writing!!!

Oh yes, tomorrow -

Another EMPTY day!

 By Penny Dolan

ps. As you may have worked out, this "poem" is loosely based on "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" picture book, written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury.