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Between Dawn and Dusk
Posted on September 5, 2003 in Book of Days Reflections Writing
Note: This is part of a series based on exercises from A Writer’s Book of Days. It’s something of a rebellion against the Friday Five and similar tupperware content memes.
Today’s topic: The time between dusk and dawn.
The time between dusk and dawn. My time. When I sit at the keyboard and open my mind like a vein and watch the blood dribble all over the place. Apologies to Sherwood Anderson for stealing his image. I hope he won’t pull the sinews of the universe so that I choke on a toothpick in mid-voyage and die of periotonitis before the ship pulls into harbor like he did.
I am awake now because I get more done. It’s as banal as that. A personal Protestant work ethic which demands that I not only perform actions, but that they amount to tangibles. The phone doesn’t ring. The computer connects faster. I’m not distracted by the kids playing Jackpot in the street or my single mother neighbor calling her brood home. I miss the cars coming in and out, the televisions blaring. Sometimes there is a stereo or the coyotes exchanging reports on the rabbit market. The whirr of air conditioners. But mostly: my own brain speaking and the keyboard drumming out sequences of consonants and vowels.
It’s the hour of Truth. When my defenses are down and I can’t shut out the backroom boys and girls. When I get to writing not as I think people will write but as I think. A dangerous time. More dangerous than swallowing a toothpick as a gag on a party ship. It leads to loneliness, the sickness unto death. And peace of mind.
Want to participate? First either get yourself a copy of A Writer’s Book of Days by Judy Reeves or read these guidelines. Then either check in to see what the prompt for the day is or read along in the book.
Tomorrow’ topic/prompt: Write about a fragrance.
