October 5, 2001

The Great Writing Experiment

prev home mail archive next Day 1 of The Great Writing Experiment Location: My desk at work. Time: 1:00 p.m. Note: I cheated a little. I'll do something drastically different tomorrow. Momentary Thought Yesterday's boo-hoo's are completely alleviated by the geekin' I'm getting into, redesigning my index page. There's creativity, and then there's creativity. High/Low High: Learned how to create image maps! Low: What low? It's Friday! Current Obsession Now to redesign my bio page, archive page, links page... Grin Source How many of you noticed my funky Chinese Proverbs in the title bar? Singing "Let's geek again, like we did last summer..." A Year Ago More or less I am multifunctional. Storyteller Bio Dramatis Personnae Who I Read Recipes

As you can see by my index page, I have realized the cure for my gloominess. A redesign! A surefire way to cure what ails you! And I must say thank you to the several readers who responded to my big ol' "wah", and offered me words of encouragement. It worked. I'm encouraged. I shall change my imood.com indicator forthwith. I played a lot with Photoshop, and I learned how to make image maps (can you see the links on the photos on the sidebars, or are they too small?). I created a new cascading style sheet for my index page. I fiddled and futzed, muttered and giggled, and by the end of my lunch hour, I had a new outlet for my "pressurized" mood. Next I will teach myself how to make a form-based survey, so when I do these things, I can poll you and ask you what you think. So my intent was to write in a different place, at a different time, under different circumstances, and in different moods - every day for two weeks. This is in an effort to dig myself out of this writerly funk I seem to be in. Day One is a bust, because I'm writing from where I always (or nearly always) write - my desk at work. And, as Marie and I were commenting on over breakfast this morning (Bruegger's Bagels!), it's hard to think of fourteen different places to write in. We've thought of: At the park On Mill Avenue, in the courtyard where all the freaks hang out At the coffee shop we frequent And then there are the more prosaic locations that I never use: At the desk in the bedroom In bed, on my laptop In the morning In the evening (ain't we got fun) The audience has my permission to go forth and boo. Well, now, here's a question for you. If you're a writer, or a journaler, where are you when you do your best writing? Does the location you write in have an effect on what you write, or how you write? Does the time of day have an effect? Would you be so kind as to write me back and let me know? I'm curious about this stuff. So! Day One's writing assignment satisfied, if somewhat off the intent. I shall finish coding this thing (as it's now 4:14, contrary to what it says on my sidebar - I've been fiddling with this stuff throughout the day, between meetings and writing my weekly) and take myself off to home, where a battle with X(f) awaits. Marie's braces go on in a month, and there's still the matter of payment... Wish us luck, and have a good Friday night! I'd usually say "have a good weekend", but you'll be hearing from me every day for the next thirteen days, now won't you? Audience: "Sure, Laura, if you can stick with it." Laura: "Hush, you."