Day 6 - 212 -- Finding Process

The has been a long one. I had a morning appointment and then headed to the office about noon. One phone meeting in the afternoon followed by a retirement fete for a women on campus. Back at the office by late afternoon left time for me to dig into some edits and additions to the results and discussion section of a research paper. I got home about 7 PM! Did some reading and planning for writing process tomorrow and headed to bed later than usual.

Working on the writing project this week has left me with a bit of a clearer view of what fits and what should be in a separate document. That lifted a weight when I realized that we couldn't possibly fit everything into a single paper AND that it wouldn't flow well since the topics are different. Many hours have been put into this paper this week and I have been in the office every day. I look forward to tomorrow when I expect things to be ready to share in a coherent draft form. One needs to trust the process to provide something tangible and useful. It has taken years to develop this approach to writing, but once I found what worked best for me, the trick was to stick with that. Trying to force a change to a different style or process just doesn't work. I need long, uninterrupted spaces of time. All materials must be spread on a desk and sometimes the floor around me. My diagram or visual outline of what goes where in the document serves as the guide. Without that nothing happens. Others can write in one hour blocks here and there. I just can't. For me it like a binge process -- it becomes the sole focus and intrusions create major frustrations. Seeing my workable process with clarity brought greater understanding of what time and space is needed for writing success.

I like the title of a song that was included on a solo album released last month. The lyrics also meld with the ebb and flow of the writing process this week. The singer-songwriter included this song on the album, originally recorded with the band he fronts. Shared today is the version re-imagined in  a different genre and with further lyrics than the original group version. The second link contains a brief explanation of the altered song by the songwriter.Enjoy! 

Clearer View -- Jim Cuddy (from Countrywide Soul)


Backstory to the rewrite of the song