In class we did a small BDS for 15 minutes with a comfort break at the 10 minute mark. During my comfort break, I uncrossed my legs because I noticed a slight strain in my lower back.
I commented previously on how Boice suggests that the best writers prewrite as much as they prose write, and how I was considering some more prewriting activities to help with the story because it's starting to feel dry and old.
Soooo, during this BDS, I went to look back at my outline that I made for my first BDS. I evaluated where I was according to the outline and if I was on track - I am, but I think I'm elaborating on things more than I expected to. I then looked to see where I planned on going with the story to make sure my mental outline was in line with my paper one.
In addition to this exercise, I also looked for things to jog my memory about my topic. Since I'm writing a story about how I tutored this girl, and it has been about a month and a half of not being with her anymore after a whole year, I was starting to feel disconnected - like I had lost the memory of who she really was as a person. I looked at a picture I had of her that we took together on our last day, and I looked at this written profile I had typed up about her - strengths, weaknesses, etc.
After doing this, I felt recharged in a way, and ready to write. I got some writing done in the five minutes that I had left. Best of all, when the timer sounded, I actually STOPPED in mid sentence, saved the file, and closed it.
I feel like a champion. Boice would be proud.
Congrats on stopping mid-sentence! I did that today when I was grading--I hit the 45 minute mark, which for me means a comfort walk, and I was in the middle of an end-comment on a student paper. Probably for the first time in my life, I walked away. WOW! What a liberating feeling! I hope you're feeling great :)
ReplyDeleteYes! It is so liberating!
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