October 2, 2013

IWSG - more lessons from my cat

sorry, i don't have an updated picture of Pepper, but he's 11 weeks old. and yes, i said he. 3 weeks into owning a cat we thought was a girl and we found out from the vet he's a boy. in our defense, he's a long hair and we got him at 6 weeks, so it was a little hard to tell. you can imagine the mind-adjusting we went through when we found out. it took almost a week. *for the weird story of his name-adjusting, read the bottom of this post.

so that's one thing i learned from my cat - life is full of surprises. something i already knew, but this was a purrfect reminder. it was also good for my novel because i have to reveal a truth to my characters that they won't expect--in fact, that will shake up their world. so now i can go back to the cat surprise for the emotions they'll experience.

-- persistence - Pepper doesn't give up on anything, especially when you wish he would. like trying to get to my morning glass of milk while i use the internet. or jumping onto the table when he knows he's not supposed to.

-- enjoying life - Pepper loves everything - exploring, climbing, chasing, playing, ambushing us from around a corner, or wrestling with his moose pillow. he puts everything he is into whatever he's doing.

-- resting - he doesn't nap as often as he used to, but this cat has no problem with sleep. i envy his ability to just nod off whenever he wants. (and quite often those naps take place on the moose pillow.)

how this relates to my writing?

-- i'm letting my story go in unexpected directions.

-- i'm trying to be persistent, but not in a way that's frantic.

-- i'm letting myself enjoy the process of writing, trying to let go of outcomes and just write. (at the advice of a good friend, my son and i decided to just write a sentence, and we ended up with half a scene. and we had a great time in the process because we weren't pushing so hard.)

-- when a scene won't come, or i'm just tired of the story, or just tired in general, i'm trying to rest instead of worrying.

as a follow-up to last months IWSG, i let myself stop for a while, figured out a story problem, and now i'm back to writing. it's hard to let go of outcomes and deadlines, but my mind is happier now, and it's easier to write.

to read what other insecure writers are saying today, go to Alex's new website.

*the kids didn't think Pepper was a good boy name. i disagreed. Pepper is gender neutral. a debate ensued. one suggestion was Jack Sparrow. (he does share some of Cap'n Sparrow's finer qualities) i made an executive parental decision. his name is now officially Cap'n Pepper Jack Sparrow. i call him Pepper. they call him Jack. most of the time, we just call him "Cat."

11 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Pepper is a smart cat! Naps and breaks are essential.
At least his name wasn't really gender specific. Well, not for a cat anyway.

J.L. Campbell said...

Letting go can be productive. Doing that helps us start fresh and move in new directions. Pepper sounds like quite a character.

Crystal Collier said...

LOL! I'd call him Pepper Jack, but we'll blame that on my love of cheese.

Definitely enjoy the process, eh? Let it come when it's ready, but encourage with appropriate music, thought and visual stimuli.

Unknown said...

Sounds like Pepper has it all figured out! Perhaps one day your kids will concede on the name. ;)

Stina said...

Awwww He's adorable!!!!

The best thing you can do is allow yourself to enjoy writing the story you want to tell. Everything else is just extra.

Yolanda Renée said...

Great name!

And yes, write the story that holds meaning for you!

Anonymous said...

Hahaha . . . LOVE it :-)

Annalisa Crawford said...

My cat can be very tenacious when they want something you won't let them have. At the moment, with mine, it's being on my lap while my laptop is also on my lap - the fact there isn't room doesn't seem to bother him.

I think Pepper is gender neutral too!

Unknown said...

May I share your cat, sounds extremely useful!

Unknown said...

I like Peppers attitude. Maybe I should turn to my own cat for some purrfect advise!

Unknown said...

At least I could comfort myself with that thought, Michelle. :0)