 I have over 100 unfinished posts in my drafts file. They are in various states of completion, some no more than a title or a few lines, others much longer, but lacking something. I have a reminder hanging up that reads “What is the story you want to tell?” I ask myself that question so […]  I will always associate Cherry pie with Washington’s birthday. I grew up on the story of George Washington chopping down the cherry tree, then admitting to the crime when his dad confronted him with the famous (though fictional) line ‘I cannot tell a lie, I chopped down that cherry tree’. Today is National Cherry Pie […]
 Another Valentine’s Day is mercifully behind us. I have been trying to remember one when I wasn’t either unhappily single or unhappily coupled. I’m sure there have been some good ones, but none I can recall. Like New Year’s Eve, there is a lot of pressure associated with Valentine’s Day; love, chocolate, Champagne, cards. As […]
 If you look for a recipe for chop suey you will find a broad range of recipes. I was practically weaned on Chinese food, and it has remained one of my favorite cuisines, but I have never eaten chop suey. There are numerous dishes called chop suey, including a number called American chop suey, which […]  When it comes to love, my life has been a series of mistakes followed by persistence landing me here; alive, alone and all things considered reasonably optimistic. Recently my sister and I were talking about a conversation we’d had about thirty years ago. She apologized for something I could barely recall. It was about the […]
|
|
.png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
.jpg)
Lisa @ The Meaning of Me - This is just beautiful, Nancy. I’ve found myself in those 4AM moments staring at the drafts of unfinished stories so often. You describe what I’m sure so many of us feel at some point or another.
nrlowell@comcast.net - Thanks Lisa. I struggled all day yesterday working and reworking and coming up with nothing good…
Peggy Gilbey McMackin - Interesting and insightful post-Nancy. I never wake up at 4 am but can understand your struggles on working and reworking the words and stories within. I understand your circuitous route though do think this type of journey is sometimes out of a person’s control depending on life circumstances. I have done things needed to be done at the time, and even with a true heart to contribute, and the right personal tools, the ugliness that surrounded me made me realize that although required to stay with it at the time- the fates assured it was not for me. I suspect you understand this too.
Great reflection piece for everyone. Thanks for sharing.
Danielle - I love the line about everyone moving in a linear fashion and you losing your map. Maybe those of us who are lost have the best stories to tell 😉
Melony - We are all unfinished works. I too have so many pieces that remain unfinished, both fiction and nonfiction. The stories I really want to tell always seem trite and rather inconsequential when I finish them, so they sit on my computer until something hits me that makes me look at it from a different perspective than the original post. I read something once from Stephen King, though, that said not to write down every idea that comes to mind. It’s the ideas that consume all your waking thoughts that you should write. I’ve been following that for ages now, and it helps me reducing the number of unfinished projects.
nrlowell@comcast.net - Great advice! Did you get my email?
yeah write #307 weekly writing challenge kickoff - […] addressed the incomplete posts in her drafts folder in her essay, Unfinished. This week’s prompt up is: “It’s been a while since I woke at 4 […]