The Early Bird

I hate early mornings. Hate, hate, hate--they are nasty! (Oh, I just figured out the keyboard shortcut for italicize--that is awesome! Hahaha) Anyway, I only get up early in the morning if it is absolutely life-and-death--or at least grade--imperative that I do so. So, on the off chance that I get up early and then find myself with no reason for it (I am loving this italics shortcut!), I get rather moody about it and my general dialogue becomes, "Grrkajbasdrefinginagrr."

Which brings us to today. I awoke at the standard, ridiculously early time today, got ready, stumbled out the door, and arrived at a virtually empty school at the normally correct time. My groggy brain struggled to understand the mostly empty parking lot and, after processing for a few minutes, finally gave me the sheepish admittance that it had failed to inform me that today was a late-start, and that I didn't have to be at school for a good hour. A good hour which--you guessed it!--I could have spent in dreamland.

So, with a resigned "Grarrdrasdfjakjfslgrr," I wandered around, trying to look like I belonged and definitely had somewhere to be that was more important than bed. After a few minutes, I found myself longing for a computer, because I've been dying to get some good writing time in. Naturally, I didn't have one conveniently in my pocket, so I had to peer inconspicuously through a few windows to see if a teacher I was on good terms with might have one available.

(I know I could have just used a piece of paper, but there was a specific story I wanted to work on, and I literally hadn't opened the MS word file in so long that I'd forgotten what I'd last typed. Also, I adore the crispness of black text and loathe the smudgyness of da graphite and sawdust. For some reason, typing a story helps make my mind feel more accomplished--like it's done something more permanent and professional. (Haha, I am such a masterful genius for tricking my mind into believing a first draft can be less chaotic and messy just by clacking it out on a keyboard! (I should probably stop layering my thoughts in parentheses because understanding my mind is hard enough as it is (Speaking of which, are you confused now? (Speaking of that which, how many parentheses do I have open? *begins to count*))))) (Impressed? Haha, just kidding. (I'm doing it again, aren't I? K, done now, back on topic. (Do you guys even remember what the topic is by now?)))

I eventually found a target and, being the kind person she is, Mrs. Awesome let me use the laptop set up in the front of the room, as long as I wasn't on the internet, which I didn't need to be. (Holy cow, no wonder one Storymaker's first-chapter judge told me my sentences could get long and confusing at times. I'm sorry, guys!) So I plugged in my flash drive . . . and promptly got distracted by a story not even in the same folder as the one I'd meant to work on. But, whatever, right? I was writing for the first time in however long. (Truly writing, not the notebook thought-jots that happen now and again in Calc class, which is just between me and you (and hopefully "you" does not equal the kind lady who rules over my calculus grade))

And it felt stinking great, can I just say? Good enough that my dialogue became semi-coherant again, and I was almost late to my first class just because I didn't want to leave. I had to though, and after only typing out a few paragraphs. (Hey, it took me a while to get that set-up, and I had to read the last few sections I'd written so I could remember my own stuff.)

Thinking about it through the day--and talking about writing to a friend--brought me to a fun little challenge I offered my own mind. A few paragraphs wasn't much, but writing that bit in the pressed amount of time I had, made me think that it'd be cool if I could do at least that much every day. It took me maybe ten minutes total--excluding the reading--and there's no reason I can't get at least that much time for writing every day. Also, small as it is, it'd be a lot more than I'm doing every day now. (Average at the moment: 0 words per day)

So, I'm gonna try it out. Even if it's only ten words per day, it's ten words more than I've been doing, and I can move up from there.

I guess sometimes it pays to be the early bird. Heh.

~ Lizzy
Current word count for today: 300
Current song: My Heaven by BigBang
Current quote: "A page a day is a book a year." ~ Richard Rhodes

(Why the last two? BECAUSE! Actually, I'm not allowed to have that as my only reason because I'm not a parent yet, huh? (That is sooooo not a dis' on parents by the way, because if I had to deal with a teenager like me every day (I am the endless questioner, I confess), I'd get to the BECAUSE stage a lot faster than any parent I know--most importantly my wonderful mother--has) The last two are because I adore music and I adore quotes, so therefore I randomly want to share what I'm listening to and the quote I'm thinking of at the moment. (Because, believe me, I'm always listening to something, and I'm always ready to quote something))