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Thursday, November 29, 2012

Confessions

When I was young I use to read late into the night using sources of light such as a flashlight, a small lamp hooked to the bottom of the bunk bead (I was on the bottom bunk), and sometimes light from the hallway. My mom always told me that if I kept doing this I would ruin my eyes and need glasses. Well, I kept doing it - and my mother was correct. I now wear glasses. I didn't need glasses until I was an adult, but I blame all the deteriorating eye sight to those late nights with bad light sources.
So now for the confession. I still love reading late into the night when I find a good book that won't let me put it down. The master bathroom, connected to our bedroom, allows light to shine across the foot of our bed. So sometimes, when my husband is sleeping and I just HAVE TO KNOW what happens next, I'll turn on that light, lay with my head at the foot of the bed, and my feet up by my pillow, and keep reading. I'm not sure if he knows how often I actually do that, but there it is - I love books that make me read late into the night with weak lighting. Although, as I type this I realize that since I live in a house with several other rooms and I no longer get in trouble for getting out of bed after 'bed time' ... I should probably just go into another room, turn on the light, and not ruin my eyes further or disturb my husbands sleep. But really, who has time to think of those things when a book has you hooked?
Other confessions?
I sometimes try to type without wearing my glasses because then I'm too focused on seeing the screen to stop and correct mistakes. It lets me get a lot more written and I can go back to edit later with no interruptions. (Note: this usually ends in a headache and usually begins because I'm too involved in my story to go find my glasses on my bedside table.)
When I write, I like to eat gummy candies or fruit snacks.
I love to listen to music while I type - favorite writing music? Disney songs and Christmas music - yes, even in the middle of summer.
Whenever I get an idea I jump up from whatever I'm doing and sprint for the office to write it down. My husband is used to this and usually laughs at me, but it seems to startled company when they first see it happen.
I bought a set of 24 yellow notebooks from Costco and always have 1-2 on my bedside table, on the edge of my desk, on the kitchen counter, in my purse, and sometimes in other random locations - this makes it easy to grab one and write whenever a thought enters my head and must be put on paper immediately.
My husband has learned that if I wake up in the morning and grab my notebook and start writing like a mad woman, this means I usually had a very vivid dream that could make a good story. He's a wonderful husband and has also learned that it is best not to interrupt me while I'm doing this as I tend to get a bit snappish until the idea is safely on paper - just in case I forget details.
And last confession - my husband is the biggest support I have for my writing. He always wants to know how much I have written, what I am writing about, and constantly encourages me to keep writing. When my laptop decided to start falling apart he bought me a new computer so I wouldn't miss a beat in my writing. I love him dearly for being my best cheerleader!

Those are my confessions .... what are yours?


11 comments:

  1. That's so sweet of your husband! It's always awesome to have people who will back your writing, which is why I love blogging so much. Everyone is really nice they all cheer you on. Just last night another blogger and I decided to start a collab project just because we wanted to support each other.

    I too, love a book that keeps me up late, but it often means sacrificing my writing in the morning. In my mind it still counts as something I do that's writing related so i let it slide, too much temptation there!

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  2. I'm popping over from J.A.'s blog to say hello!

    I do the exact same thing after I've had a vivid dream. Unfortunately, I rarely remember the happy and whimsical dreams. It's usually the creepy nightmarish ones that stay in my mind for a couple hours. I write it down for ideas, but also just to get it out of my system :P

    Sam
    Writing Through College

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  3. I'm stopping in via Jennie's blog too - new follower:) My confession? I adore composition notebooks - you know, the one's that are bound together with string and have the hard cover with different awesome designs? And they cheap. And I fill them up like mad, scribbling notes and everything else I want to remember:) It's nice to meet you!

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  4. Confessions:
    I came over from J.A. Bennett's blog.
    I followed.
    I'll be back.
    The reading in the dark thing and glasses? Same with me.

    Nice to meet you!

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  5. Love the blog. We need to start doing the writing in notebook thing. Love your confessions, and sorry you have to wear glasses but I did tell you so. And most of all Love you and your sweet husband. Love, Mom & Dad

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  6. I'm also coming from J.A. Bennett's blog. I also did the sneaking reading in bed with a flashlight or other small undetected light source. I already had glasses at that point, though.

    One of my confessions: Though I don't make a regular habit of this, sometimes I matter-of-factly switch my eating or writing hand midway through and carry on like nothing out of the ordinary happened, just to mess with people's minds. It's one of the perks of ambidexterity. Last year I showed one of my sitting charges how I can even write with both hands at the same time. I hadn't done that in awhile, and was pleased to discover I could still do it.

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  7. Popping over from J.A. Bennett's blog!

    I used to do the reading late into the night thing all the time! I had a walk-in closet in my bedroom so I would turn the light on and go in there to read. Never got caught. Or at least my parents never told me to stop ;)

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  8. Thanks to all who have added their confessions to this blog. It's always fun to learn about other author's habits while writing. Also, thanks J.A. Bennett for sending over so many wonderful people to support my blog!

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  9. Popping over from J.A Bennett's blog to say hi. I did the reading at night thing too. Maybe that's why my eyesight is so bad now. And I still do it, only I read by the light of a mobile phone now.

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  10. Hi Rebecca. Popping over from JA's blog to say hi and welcome you to the blogosphere. :D
    My hubby is well aware of my idea notebook now. Whenever I pull it out of my purse he asks about the idea. It's cute.
    Great to meet you!

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  11. Ok, so my confession is that I really do eat ice cream and watch movies after I put my kids to bed. :) Love reading your posts and seeing into the development of a writer...sorry...author.

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Thank you for your comments!