What my cat taught me about writing
miscellaneous, writing March 27th, 2009
I have a 17-year-old cat named Buster. And what a Buster he is. He once hauled a frozen chicken out of the kitchen sink, across the floor, around the corner and into the half-bath just so he could gnaw his way through the packaging undetected. (He did, btw, go largely undetected for several minutes. We had spaghetti that night.)
But now that’s he’s getting up there in years, my Buster is showing his age. His robust form is giving way to a bony, frail structure. When he plays he mostly lays down and doesn’t get up unless he absolutely has to. And he sleeps a bit more than he used to – which is a lot, considering cats sleep something like two-thirds of their lives, anyway.
So watching Buster curled up in his kitty bed snoozing the day away made me realize something. He’s listening to his body and taking a much-needed time-out so he’ll have the energy to do Buster-type things. Like begging for popcorn, jumping up next to the computer to help me write, or pushing his sister out of the way so he can sit where she sits, because it’s obviously the best place to sit at that very moment.
Buster knows when to do his work and when to take his rest. I’ve seen him take just a short nap and wake up raring to go.
And so it is with writing. Sometimes we need a physical rest. When the words don’t come easy, when the ideas seem stuck or nonexistent, or when we get aggravated over whether or not to use “were” or “was,” it’s probably a clue that we’re too tired to write.
Take a nap. Go to bed. Sleep on it.
It’ll clear your head and help bring forth new and better ideas. It may even make your next round of writing go faster. Thanks, Buster.
