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Monday, September 26, 2011

A Picture Costs a Thousand Words

alternative title:  The Internet is Evil Incarnate

My daily writing schedule requires me to write 1,000 words - be they free writing, plot details, character traits and flaws, or actual text.  Like many other writers, I get stuck occasionally and need to take a break.  Sometimes I play a game of hearts on my NOOK.  Maybe I'll do some menial household chores that must be accomplished - wash the sheets, scrub the dog prints off the kitchen floor, dust the individual slats of the horizontal blinds.  Okay that last one is completely fictitious; I have never gone that far in the quest to overcome writer's block.  

More often than not, I'll use the internet as a way to take a break from writing.  I always start out with the best of intentions.  

     I'll just check my email.
     Let me see if I have any messages on Facebook.
     Maybe I can just read a few entries on the Charley Project.  
     I really need to do a little research on ___________ before I can write about it.  

It is this last one that ended up sending me down the road of distraction  yesterday.  I wanted a picture of a dog.  There is a wonderful dog in the family I am writing about and she happens to be a bulldog.  I wanted to sift through the images google produced to see if I could find a picture that resembled the one in my mind.  I like having these little visual prompts to draw on when I write.  

I spent three hours looking at pictures of bulldogs, reading about their habits, searching for great names, surfing bulletin boards set up by bulldog breeders, owners, enthusiasts, and of course another hour on Facebook (just because).  Before I knew it my writing time was over and the more responsible part of my day was upon me.  But I found her. 
 


Introducing Ella.

She's wrinkly.

She's droopy.

She's splotchy.

She's PERFECT.

and she only cost me.......


A Thousand Words. 

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