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10.6.12

TIDY MIND?

I have had such a productive day you wouldn't believe!
This isn't my actual desk but it bears a strong resemblance to how it has looked for weeks.
I spent this afternoon getting it sorted. First I went through nine months-worth of Writing Magazines and cut out all the articles I wanted to keep. Then I realized I didn't have enough file space, so I re-organized my souvenir files. This left me with two plastic-sleeve-page folders for said articles and a fat folder of souvenirs sorted into envelopes marked with such enticing titles as "Old school reports" and "One-act plays" - don't ask!
Now my "office" is pristine - well, apart from the articles I want to read now rather than keep for posterity, and the high-lighted torn-out bits about agents who might be worth approaching, and the list of Rod McKuen books I want to look up on Amazon, and the snippets that might put some life into my Writers' Circle.

I did try to get some writing done this morning, honest injun!
I went down to Los Abrigos and sat in a cafe with a short story that needs a lot of work, but I picked an English cafe, and there were English people there, talking in English. Far too distracting. And their coffee machine had broken so I paid 1.50 for a cup of tea I could have made at home. So I drove back, and on the way I took a side road I have been meaning to investigate for years. To a place called Atogo.
It was a good job I was driving carefully - any faster than 30K and I'd have been off the edge of that bend and 50 metres down in a barranco! After that the road wound like an un-ravelled jumper, and there was no sign of civilisation - I could have been anywhere. I thought Atogo would be small, sandwiched as it must be between Los Abrigos and the motorway, but when I eventually found it there was even a football ground. Maybe 20 houses in all, but they still had a football ground - trust the Canarians to get their priorities right!

10 comments:

  1. what a coincidence! I've been fretting about the clutter in my little writing/craft room for a while, that and the huge pile of ironing I have to do, lol. I had made up my mind to get it sorted and ended up leafing through a pile of writing mag back issues. Great minds, as they say.
    BTW: my room is no tidier than when I started, so you're doing better than me.

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  2. OK, Lizy - now you've had your 'rehearsal' would you mind coming over here and tidy up my husband's study? ;-p

    Trouble is, his 'study (aka daughter's old bedroom) doesn't seem to be able to contain all the things he hoards (I swear he was a squirrel in a former life!)

    There are boxes on the stairs and elsewhere throughout the house; on into the shed where crates of old magazines are stacked up (I mean, why does he need to keep old 'Cricketer' magazines from 1978 and beyond? WHY?)

    In fact, we had to build a new shed to house the garden equipment because there wasn't room to wedge things around his blessed crates in the old one!

    Then there's the garage.....

    I daren't look in the loft....

    I think if I pop my clogs before he does he'll probably turn into one of those peculiar old men you see in TV documentaries who keep newspapers stacked up behind the front door....

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  3. Sounds a good day BUT is the photo before or after the tidying up? If before then let's see the tidy photo.

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  4. I've been sorting through my old writing magazines too.

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  5. A lot more space now!

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  6. I love a good clear-out. I usually find lots of half-written stories and ideas, so it's a huge source of inspiration too!

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  7. Glad you had a productive day even if you didn't get much actual writing done.

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  8. I've been thinking about my writing space this week and have just posted up a blog about our latest writing den plans. Your country does sound so interesting.

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  9. I find dust when I tidy my office space.

    :(

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  10. My mother used to complain that she'd send me in to clean my room and I'd spend the whole time cleaning and organizing my dresser drawers.

    That has carried over for sure, as I often tidy my office instead of working on a manuscript.

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