Writer's Island: Prompt - changed

Writers Island

This week’s Writer’s Island prompt is: “Changed”. Just contemplate the word “Changed”, and let your muse take you from there. Surprise, shock, mystify us!

Whatever moves your soul this week is what we all want to read. So, create your poem, prose, short story, essay, commentary, or whatever — and post it on your blog. Feel free to include recordings of you reading your work — and any photo, artwork, or graphic representation you feel is relevant.

I decided to give Writer’s Island a try in order to spark my creativity with writing. Great prompt isn’t it. Changed. What does the word changed bring to mind. Right now, the big change for me is writing. Once I decided to join in nanowrimo and write a novel, life changed. I started getting up at 6:30 and writing (or typing as the case may be). Luna helped. She would jump on the bed around 6:00, pounce on my feet, use the bed for a scratching post or just mew her head off until I got up. And I would write until James got up.

Sometimes it is easier to write things down in longhand rather than the computer because the thoughts won’t flow from my fingers to the keyboard. I did pretty well. I actually wrote a story that had a beginning and an end. The middle left something to be desired, but I had the premise for a story. I accomplished the nano goal of writing more than 50,000 words. So how did that change me?

I wanted to finish the story. Truly finish the story and have a book I could present to folks and say I wrote this. Whether it ever got published or not was another story. Father wants me to finish and try to get it published and even if I get reject letters, I would have written a book.

Changed. Luna now sleeps with James and doesn’t wake me up anymore. James does around 7:30. James loves to get on the internet after breakfast and finds the most annoying websites, whether on purpose or not, I don’t know. Godzilla clips of monsters screeching and roaring, the bleating of shaun the sheep and other amazing silly shows. My quiet time in the morning disappeared. I have a huge stack of books by my bedside and Nora Roberts and Terri Blackstock are calling my name. Instead of writing, I read and read and read. Suddenly, my morning is gone, Father is up and off for work, it’s time to do lessons, clean the house, do laundry, work on my homework and…..

They say the more you read the better you write. I discovered the more I read, the less I write. During nano, I hardly read at all and I wrote 2000 words a day. Life after nano, I am barely writing 100 words a day. There are days I manage to edit and rewrite scenes and then days I accomplish nothing. Father made the comment last night (and I had not discussed this with him) that the more I read the less I write. I have to admit, he is right. Add the distraction of James and poof. It’s gone.

Changed. I’ve discovered something new and I want to pursue it. It was quiet yesterday afternoon at the shop (my turn to work). My technician engrossed in repairs, no customers coming in and the phones were quiet for a change. I grabbed some paper and began to write down ideas for a new beginning for my story. I also decided James won’t be getting on the internet until a certain time, so I have the quiet time I need in the morning to write.

Changed: For lent, decided to start getting up at 6:30 again. I wake up at 6:30, look at the clock and think ‘I’ll get up in a minute.’ The next glance at the clock shows that minute turned into 45 minutes and James is walking in the door saying ‘good morning.’ Arrg. Tomorrow is another day and I will try again.

Changed: Me, Father, James. Life is all about changes and wanting change, looking for change. Good change. Change is watching your son learn something new and the light in his eyes gets brighter. He is changed. Change is listening to Father describe a new design he has come up with and actually implementing it. He is changed.

Change is Life. Life is changed. We are transformed.