Home | Forums | Resources | Classes | Contact

My Computer is in a Coma
By Cheryl Wright

I am always amazed at how quickly a new writing schedule goes up in smoke.

For months I’ve been trying to maintain a steady outflow of queries and submissions. Finally I succeeded and within one week I submitted eleven articles and queries to various editors.

I was elated when several of them replied acknowledging receipt of my material. Three editors agreed to publish my articles and one was posted in an online newsletter the following week.

There was another reason for my elation. I had begun to manage my tendency to procrastinate. That thought in itself was very motivating. It encouraged me to surpass my daily/nightly two-hour writing session. I was going guns. Pow! Pow! Pow!

Unfortunately one of those shots hit my computer, it seemed, and sent it into a coma. There was no response and no pulse; it was brain-dead.

The ‘whiz kids,’ my husband and son, were unable to revive it, despite their best efforts. My husband graciously offered me the use of his computer until he could build me a new one.

So, it was back to the good old days of pad and pencil. I dug up a few yellow pads, a couple of unused notebooks, and several pens. I was well-equipped to face the world of hand-writing my articles, then transcribing them on someone else’s computer.

I still hid in my corner office in my bedroom. I continued to ignore my family while I slipped into a world of my own imagination-- the only difference being that I was crouched over a yellow pad with a pen in hand.

My new routine was to write at night and transcribe on the computer in the early hours of each day. While everyone else was still in bed, I got up and dragged myself to the living room, switched on the computer, and put on water for coffee.

With my caffeine nearby, I checked e-mail and replied to those that needed a reply. Then I began the process of deciphering my crazy handwriting. That alone took some time because I can’t remember the last time I wrote so much by hand. Oh, what a mess!

But writing by hand was not so bad after all. It gave me the opportunity to improve my scrawl.

Also, I found it a bit liberating—putting pen to paper. So much so that I decided to hand-write more often just for the fun of it.

If you have not tried it in a while, you should do so soon. Don’t wait for your computer to die or become gravely ill. Dedicate some time each week to enjoy the pure pleasure of writing by hand. I'm betting that you, too, will enjoy the process.

Cheryl Wright is an interior designer and freelance writer. While interior design is her writing specialty, she has broadened her horizons to include articles on motivation, self-care, and pursuing your dreams. Her work has been published both in print and online at Dreams Alive Online Magazine, Simple Joy, The Writer Within, Writing Corner, Trinidad Style Magazine, Mosaic Minds, Changing Course Newsletter and The Dollar Stretcher. Read her online interview at www.writersmanual.com/FCherylWright.shtml. Another interview is scheduled to be online in July, 2004 at Write From Home.

Home

Text on this site Copyright © 1998–2010 Absolute Write.
Please contact the authors if you'd like to reprint articles on this site.