Mondays are for Motivations

Ah, the life of a freelancer. I remember it well. The glamour, the travel, the drinking... or wait, that wasn't me, that was my Katherine Hepburn fantasy. The real deal is the slog of never-ending work tightly coupled with the anxiety of never knowing when you'll have more work.

In that sense, Mondays are really just another day. But I still find Mondays particularly tough. Mondays actually start on Sunday night, when I log on to email, or review that to-dolist (which is in my head because I don't actually keep a to-do list. Maybe I should. Note to self: create to-do list.) After dinner at some point I'll wander away to my desk and start frantically trying to tap out 300 words here, 150 there, telling myself that doing that will make Monday easier...

When in fact what I accomplish is to ruin a perfectly good Sunday night.

So, no more of that. I'll enjoy my after-dinner Sunday beer and instead let the Monday open a new door to possibility. Yes, I have many things to write and finish up this week, but I'll get them done, and if I don't, well.

There's always next Sunday night!

But I digress. I wanted to write more about things that will keep me motivated this week:

On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King. Just finished this last week, and while I can't say I've read a lot of his fiction, this memoir-slash-compendium-of-advice is inspirational. And hilarious. I forget how funny King can be. He writes about typing out Carrie in a laundry room while living on $6400 a year as a teacher. He writes about why his desk is not in the middle of the room. He confesses that he does not plot his books (this was particularly welcome to me, as I think I ODed on all those plot formula how-tos). There's a lot of wisdom here for all creators.

Inkheart (Inkheart Trilogy) by Cornelia Funke. Lovely Middle-Grade fantasy with charming characters and real stakes. It's about the power (and responsibility) of words and books! Plus it features a slightly dangerous but super cute marten named Gwin. Lots of imagery and evocative language, which I loved. I'm looking forward to reading Inkspell next.

The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan by Ivan Morris. Wonderful companion volume to Murasaki's Tale of Genji (which I am also reading but it is, needless to say, going a little more slowly.) It's not perfect -- in particular, Morris sometimes falls into old-fashioned gender constructions, although to his credit he is very conscientious about trying to understand the context and perspective of his subjects and combats his contemporaries' critiques of Heian courtiers as trivial aesthetes. It's gracefully written and fascinating and wide-ranging. Highly recommended.

So, let's go forth and create and make things! Hooray for Mondays!

[Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Assuming I built them correctly. We'll see! I'm sure I'll be rolling in cash money in no time!]

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07/28/2014