I don't have time for pens that don't work.

You know the ones I mean. You pull out a pen to jot down a note or an idea or gosh, even a whole scene, but after the first word the ink fades to nothing. On the corner of the page (or index card or napkin or prescription) you scribble madly trying to get something to start flowing again, and maybe it does - for another word or so.

Chuck it. Throw it in the trash. Or across the room. (Please don't just drop it in the street, though - I'm not condoning littering here, people.) Get a new one - one that works - and get that idea written down.

I have several cups of pens (ink, markers, fountain: all kinds), but I bet more than half of them don't work. My goal as a recovering packrat is to start tossing the writing implements that don't write. Who needs them? No one. Except maybe some artist who's creating an altar to the unuseable pen. That person is not me. Although I have all the raw materials! :)

Anyone have a suggestion for a great pen for everyday use? I'm not looking for a Montblanc. I don't want to spend a ton, but I know you get what you pay for. The freebie pens typically don't stand up to the test of time - except I did find one that I LOVED from a hotel. Maybe I should go back there and grab a few from the front desk.

I'm looking for something that flows freely, has a cap (cuts back on that annoying clicking) and keeps writing day after day. Any suggestions?

I got nothing this week. Except cedar fever. And it's sucking the life out of me. I've only done a smidgen of the writing I planned to do. Only a smidgen of the planning, too.

The worst part is that with weather in the 70's in the afternoons (almost 80 yesterday), I fear the cedar blooming is just gonna get worse. Ugh.

I'm at the point where I'm hoping this is the flu so that it will go away. Before, say, March. :)

Next up: find a contest for my current WIP. I'm looking for the right agent or editor as the final judge. This manuscript (ms) doesn't fit into any of the nicely defined categories I typically see in contests, but it could maybe swing it as Mainstream with Romantic Elements or something along those lines.

Okay, good. I've posted a goal. Now I just gotta get on it.

Blogging - A Study in Perseverance

Here's how my blog entry went today:
8:15 am - see reminder, but ignore it to check email and pay bills
8:50 am - remember I was going to leave for work at 9:00 but I haven't even gotten in the shower yet; see reminder again and make a mental note to do it tonight

8:40 pm - as I'm reading through something I should have critiqued a while back, remember I was going to blog tonight - I even have a topic that's been brewing since Saturday (so why didn't I just do it then, huh?)
8:41 pm - open IE and go the the "Blog Sign-in" bookmark. Sad that I have to do that, but I used to waste hours trying to find the sign-in page through other peoples' blogs.
8:42 pm - ah, yes, my blog....I should check out Deepish Thoughts and see if anything's new since last time (yes!)
8:45 pm - now I need to check Lexi's blog and see what's happened. Oh, look, comments on one of her posts.
8:50 pm - Oh yeah, THAT'S who Avery Beck is.... cool, she sold another book! Neat website.
8:55 pm - Hmmm, website designed by Stonecreek Media.... I'll just go see some of their other work.
9:10 pm - There's Avery's site! Ooooh, who's Gregg Olsen?
9:30 pm - Wow. I should read one of his books. Hmmm, let's get back to the Stonecreek Media site and see what else is there.
9:40 pm - Cool. Murder She Writes - I should check that out. Oh, look. Allison Brennan blogs here. Last night at the ARWA meeting Jan Hudson mentioned Allison Brennan writes thrillers with some romance in them and I made a note to check her out. Let's go see her website.
10:05 pm - OMG it's 10:00 and the kids are still watching TV!
10:30 pm - Okay everyone's in bed. I should really go write my blog now. Right after I check out this one link.....

How are your resolutions going?

My co-worker lamented yesterday about the crowd at the gym in the afternoons and how she was going to have to get up early to get in her workout until they all got tired of trying to get in shape.

I laughed. Then I did a few sit ups this morning. Maybe tomorrow I'll get up even earlier and get on the Wii Fit.

As for my resolutions, the second day of writing at the coffee shop has commenced. I didn't actually write yesterday, except to get more of the outline in the computer. No actual manuscript pages, though. And today I'm writing the blog. That technically counts toward my resolutions, though, since one of them was to blog more.

Today I need to do a little more outlining. Maybe by tomorrow I'll actually get to some real writing. Maybe.