A Failed Experiment and (Almost) Another Cat

So, I’ve been experimenting because there was an expanse of shiny whiteness on my office wall with scribbles on it like ‘Get milk’, ‘Weed the garden (again)’ and ‘***Don’t rescue another cat; you have enough now***’.

But it would be so much better if it said things like:

Chapter 5 – Whenever he smells apples, he is overcome with a murderous rage.

OR, Chapter 12 – Astonishing mid-plot twist: The monkey was never meant to be there, but only the nun knew.

It’s not like I’ve fallen out of love with my faithful notebooks. It’s just that the pages of the notes are folded against each other and hidden by covers. You physically have to open them and flick through them to read them. Not so with a whiteboard, laid bare and displayed for all to see (well, only me really). I was hoping for a more constant surface of inspiration.

After trawling through my current work and condensing each chapter into a paragraph. And after drawing a rough picture of my setting because I like pictures, I stood back with a sore hand from writing at a funny angle with a giant pen. It just looked too darn shiny. And if I wanted to change a word, a name, or move something around, my hand would accidentally smudge the surrounding writing and I’d have to rewrite it. Gggrrrr!

I’ve left it all up there for a few weeks now, but it’s such a sterile surface. Hardly inspiring, just frustrating. I also came very close to rescuing another cat without my handy reminder up there.

So, yep, it’s back to my friendly notebooks, all mismatched and different sizes. All papery and crinkly, and no giant pens. The ‘No More Cats’ note is going back on the whiteboard, much to the relief of the resident felines. And all is right with the world again 🙂