This is one of four photo images suggested for my Writing101 class, Word Press Blogging University. The assignment was to choose a photo that reminds us of something, and to write about it. I was in my living room, working on my little Kindle Fire–which I love, although it is not really helpful to me when writing posts for my blog, that need formatting and new images. The Kindle has an operating system that is different from my laptop, and from my Main Frame (as I call my PC.) This difference leads me to some grave errors, like publishing a DRAFT prematurely.
Here is the case in point: http://mumbletymuse.com/2015/11/04/grand-ceentral-station-draft/
Anyway, back to the assignment for the day’s post.
I liked the photo of Grand Central Station, and started making an on-screen list of ideas and trial phrases. A pattern started to emerge, and I thought I might play around with that idea. I have NO idea why the first stanza is indented the way it is. That was something the computer gremlins did all by themselves.
It was easy enough to get the machine to save the image, and I was able to locate it quickly. But I could not get the picture ID to move into the draft post I was writing into WordPress. Not wanting to get onto another device last night, I decided to wait until this morning, when I began working on my Main Frame, as I always do.
Well…imagine my shock as a couple of my main Followers commented in my message board this morning. OH NO–that post was only in draft form, and not intended to see the morning light any time soon. My intention was to see if I could get the image (or ask for help on the Commons,) clean up the verse or rewrite it completely before publishing it.
It even has a terrible typo in the Title! (While I’m making excuses, I must say that my little tablet keys are quite sensitive, and tend to tap multiple letters when I only want one.)
OK, here comes the Writer part… like most writers, we do get attached to our words and phrases, and clever trips of the tongue. We read something we have written and say to ourselves “…that isn’t bad…tweke a word here, put in a punctuation mark there, read it aloud to hear the smooth rhythm…” OR (horrors) we read a piece of off-the-wall writing and say to ourselves “WHO wrote that junk?”
Yep, you guessed it–I LIKE the poem I wrote. Oh sure, I could tweke it and punctuate it to death and take all the impromptu momentum away–thereby ruining it completely.
Having made that admission, I will also say that as I was composing the post last night the thought was still implanted that it was just a draft, maybe even a laundry list of possible ideas for a story. I love the image, which reminds me of something–as intended by the assignment–and the people in the picture began to telepath to me their emotions, confusion, fears, disappointments. Of course the general human hub-bub inherent in the image rather quickly became personal…their thoughts were my thoughts and vice-versa.
Isn’t everything personal at some level?
