“If there is a special Hell for writers it would be in the forced contemplation of their own works.”  — John Dos Passos

Hi everyone, thanks for checking in.  I hope you had a good Wednesday (or are having a good whatever day it is for you now).

I’ve been in a bit of a “special hell”* all day myself, as I’ve been contemplating my latest Tuesday Discover Challenge post.

My post last night was a mess, and I know it.  I didn’t read the prompt until the evening, because over lunch I was busy revamping my D is for Dragon post, so much that I hope no one noticed when I pushed it back from posting at 1:05pm to 1:20pm.  I admit I really do like that AtoZ post, so yesterday wasn’t a total loss.

But for the Neeka post, even though I thought a lot about the watch imagery I wanted to use for the Discover memory, I was busy with trivia, and I got home late, and then I tried to throw something together before my self-imposed midnight deadline, and it was pretty half-assed.

I didn’t even talk about the cool Dragon Gate Legend Watch I found for the dragon image, which comes from the company Cornelius & Cie in Geneva.  Luckily there are two sizes, so here is the other for today’s image, and the craftsmen’s description:

On the dial of the model is presented the carp, which wants to get to the top of the mountain. It swims, overcoming all difficulties and obstacles. Suddenly, on top of the mountain, it sees the “gate of dragon.” After jumping through the gate, carp becomes a dragon.

The legend “Dragon Gate” is often used as an allegory. This picture, shown on the dial, tells not only the story of the carp, which turned into a dragon. It represents all the difficulties and obstacles, which can be overcome to achieve the objectives and general success in life.

Apt, I think, as I navigate my own difficulties and obstacles with this blog.  And all of this to say,

I apologize for the mediocre post.

And then, instead of dwelling any further, I’m just going to move on, and do better next week.  Deal?  Deal.

So, while I was beating myself up about my terrible writing, I came across this helpful article by Jory Mackay titled “Dear Writing, I hate you:  Lessons from 7 famous authors who hated their job.”  (Such a great title.)

I highly recommend reading the article for more inspiration from some of the greats — he shares stories and insights from Vonnegut, O’Connor, Woolf, Le Guin, Joyce, Kerouac, and the aforementioned Dos Passos, and not only in catchy meme form (which of course I do like), but with well-written, conversational prose.

Okay, that’s it for me then tonight.  The rest of the week will be more AtoZ Challenge posts, so I hope you follow along and enjoy!  I’m having so much fun with those, although I realize that when I do it again next year, I’ll probably need a more precise theme than just “dragons…”  Ah well, I have a year to prepare for that.

Goodnight, and stay creative!

*Not the Firefly “Special Hell” warned against by Shepherd Book. 🙂

Image credits:
John Dos Passos quote
Dragon Gate Legend Watch