My partner, Jan, maintains she has inherited her mother’s
sense of direction: very strong, just not very reliable. If faced with a 50/50
decision of the right direction at a “T” intersection, one approach that would
yield a better than 50% result would be to ask Jan which way to go...and then
turn the other way. I have a line about us driving together: When I drive and
Jan navigates, we have one driver and half a navigator. If she drives and I
navigate, we have one navigator and one and a half drivers! (I like to use the
passenger brake pedal sooner than she uses the driver’s pedal.)
We’ve known about our collective driving deficiencies almost
as long as we’ve known each other. However, until just a few years ago, we steadfastly
maintained our patterns. If we took Jan’s car somewhere, she drove and I
navigated. If we took my car we reversed responsibilities. Because I have the
larger car, whenever we take road trips, we take my car.
Jan’s navigation has provided us the opportunity to see
parts of the country we otherwise would not have known existed. This has real
advantages when we are on a road trip in which exploration is a major
objective. However, when it’s nearing dinner time and we still need to find a
place for that night’s rest, exploring dirt roads heading in the wrong
direction is less satisfying.
We can, and do, laugh at our joint driving deficiencies. Now
if we need to get to place A by time B, regardless of which car we are using,
Jan drives and I navigate. Mostly—sometimes we revert to “norm.”
I suspect many of us have developed similar ruts in our
writing routines. We follow a process because it made sense at one point. Yet
if we examine it, we would find it is not as efficient as we would prefer. For
example, have you recently reflected on the time of day you write? How about where
in your home you write? What distractions do you allow (or encourage!) to interrupt
your writing time—phone, email, social networks, research?
Sometimes when we are in a rut we should have the Jan part
of us navigate. We might discover new territories that bring insight or renewed
vigor to our writing. Sometimes the fun of the unexpected (or, if you will, a
lack of discipline) diminishes our ability to get actual words on a page,
self-edit our work, do promotion or query agents and editors.
It has been said that the definition of crazy is doing the
same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
How do you recognize you are in a rut? What do you do to get
out of it?
~ Jim
Mostly I have a pretty good sense of direction, however, if I've been off in my own world thinking of other things, sometimes I find myself going in a direction I didn't plan. I most often have this problem once I've gotten some place and then want to reverse my direction especially if it's a place I've never been to before. It's even worse at night.
ReplyDeleteI love it when my sisters and I decide to get off the interstate and just wander on back roads in the general direction we want to go. Those roads are so much more interesting than the interstates and we see more interesting things at a slower pace. I love going through small towns, too,
I haven't quite taken to getting out of a rut with my writing, Jim, but I have ways of getting out of ruts with driving. I like to take different routes when going from point A to point B. Some of them take a little longer, but I'd rather take more time than be such a creature of habit.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have a horrible sense of direction with regards to N, S, E, W. I tend to think whatever way I'm facing is North, even if I'm driving from Michigan to Florida. The only place I didn't have this issue was when I lived in Chicago. After a couple of years, I could tell which way I was going because I knew where Lake Michigan was.
When I lived in California the mountains were to the East. In Kansas City there are no mountains visible in any direction. When I get stuck on a project, I put it away and let it simmer for a few weeks. When I return to it, it is easier to keep writing.
ReplyDeleteGloria,
ReplyDeleteJan and I are fans of what William Least Heat Moon calls "Blue Highways." On long trips we take Interstates only when we need to get from A to B in a hurry.
In Nebraska one time that saved me a ticket. I was zipping down a secondary road when a state policeman pulled me over. With Michigan plates and license he knew I was a foreigner and asked where we were headed. I told him our driving plans and he approved of seeing his state from something other than the freeway -- and he added as a caution that our plan also meant we couldn't go freeway speeds!
~ Jim
Alyx,
ReplyDeleteI grew up in suburban Rochester, NY so between Lake Ontario and the Genesee River I was in good shape for NSEW. In NJ I had the Hudson River as a geographical helpmate. In Boston it was the Atlantic Ocean.
Cincinnati is on the Ohio River, but sometimes that was no help because the river loops and bends and at any point could be N S E or W of where you are. When we moved to Kentucky, just across the river, it was even worse because now we were on the "wrong" side of the river so everything was reversed.
~ Jim
Warren,
ReplyDeleteI agree on taking time-outs from projects. I'll do that even if I'm not stuck sometimes just to make sure I've come up with the best way of presenting my idea.
Of course I didn't grow up in a world of tweets where you don't know what you're thinking until after you tweeted it. :)
~ Jim
I recently moved my desk so I have a better view out the window. It was a good change since I can write for longer periods of time.
ReplyDeleteBut, honestly, now that my latest houseguest has left, I'm very happy to return to a "writing rut".