2011.2.20 Writing: A Day in My Life

Words awoke me the other morning, repeating in my mind loudly, obtrusively. At 4:27, I snapped on my lamp and scribbled them down.

Dark cold
Deep blue
Frigid from the death of violet

I wondered, “What does it mean, frigid from the death of violet?” I tried to remember the dream that had birthed those words, but it had vanished.

I extinguished my light and dozed off. More words came to me: Birthed. Birthing. Born anew. They repeated and filled my head, sounding like children clopping in oversized rubber boots around my bed until the clamor became one voice saying “Words. Words. Words. You send your words into the streets; they’re attacked and raped there. They give birth to new industries; your old words drop away like fallen soldiers.”

Again, I awoke. Again, I asked, “What does it mean?”

Nothing revealed; nothing gained. I fell asleep and dreamed dreamlessly until sunlight stirred me back to the living. I took my jottings to my office and put them aside while I worked on some pencil drawings—three hours of studying shadow and light. After breakfast I put away my art project, picked up one of my stories in progress and wrote some chapters. My main character was in a dark place—dark cold, deep blue; a blue-violet basement room frigid from the lack of windows.

Aha! The writing went quickly as words spilled from me. Soon, I had a few more chapters.

By afternoon I left for my other job (the one that pays the bills), left behind my creative work, and shut down most of my mind. There is no place in that salt mine for thinkers, imaginers, visionaries. They are distractions and the company punishes distractors. I may as well be a robot.

I returned to my writing for an hour that night and struggled to continue my story; I was empty from the time spent at my other job. I struggled as well with the desire to edit what I had written so far—a bad habit that I am trying to break myself from. A basic rule of writing stories is Writers should not edit their first drafts until the story is completed and they have had time to put the story aside for a few weeks.

I drew instead, happy to be home and filling my leftover salt-mine emptiness with what I love.

Thanks for joining me today for this look back at an excerpt from my blog in 2011. Until my next post, peace and love.

Steve, 5/22/2024

This post “2011.2.20 Writing: A Day in My Life” copyright © 2011, 2024 Steven Leo Campbell at stevecampbellcreations.com – All rights reserved.