I'M GOING TO START MY WRITING by Penny Dolan

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's the start of  February and my tax is done,  but I'm still clearing out lots of old work papers here, stuff & stationery that I should have discarded ages ago.  

 

Goodbye, all you  ancient school visit papers, you maps & directions, you envelopes full of semi-compulsory "thank you" notes.  That was then, this is now.

 

Even better, once this week is out,  I will be taking a fresh look at a WIP I dropped late last autumn. By now, a few months on, my ms should read a lotmore hopefully or - oh no! - a lot worse.  What will it be? The tension almost makes me want to get distracted.

 

Which is why, tonight, I'm reposting a favourite post from a while back , purely to remind me to stop making excuses and just get on with it!

 

And to remind me of a greatly loved children's writer who learned, last year, to walk again. 

Good wishes, as I post this, to everyone struggling to pick up their writing words for 2022. 

  

 

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.