Door County, Wisconsin
I'm going to share a few things about our vacation last week, but have no fear. There is more than rambling and complaining; there is a connection to our writing world, as well. So hang on to the end.
We'd been looking forward to our river cruise from Amsterdam to Vienna for many months. Unpacking once and cruising down the rivers of Europe, stopping somewhere to see the sights daily is our favorite way to travel. This trip had been Plan A since early February. We were to fly to Amsterdam on June 17th Five days prior to that date, our travel company called with bad news. There had been a horrific accident with lives lost. The Danube River was closed to all traffic. Our river ship was docked in Vienna and could not travel to Amsterdam to pick up our group. We were given two options--to do the trip by land or to receive a full refund. Desperately disappointed but feeling the other option would have lost much of what we enjoy about river cruising, we selected the refund.
Ken declared that we were not going to stay home and pout for the 15 days we would have been gone, so, on to Plan B. In a matter of hours, we'd decided to go to Door County, WI, a place we have been many times but always enjoy. It's marked in red on the map above, a peninsula with several small villages. The next day, I got busy finding a place for us to stay, contacted friends whom we could visit on Monday night, more friends whom we'd have lunch with on Tuesday before heading on to Door County, known as the Cape Cod of the Midwest.
The plan worked until just prior to meeting our old friends for lunch just north of Milwaukee. We stopped at a rest area, and Ken noticed a bulge on the left front tire. We drove on, fingers crossed and a prayer said. After greeting our friends at the restaurant, we told them of our problem. Called AAA and they sent a man out to remove the bad tire, put the donut spare on. While we waited, we enjoyed catching up and having a nice lunch. The news from the man AAA sent was not good. Of course, we knew we had to have a new tire, but he said we'd have to spend the night in his town (10 miles farther) and wait for the tire to come in the next day. Seems we have a not so common tire. Got on my phone and made a reservation at a hotel--last one they had! Called the lodge and said we'd be delayed a full day. Plan C
had taken effect!
We had to wait til 1 o'clock the next day to have the new tire put on, so we whiled away the time at a lovely Wisconsin Art Museum, then had lunch at an Irish Pub. We were on our way early afternoon and spent three super days in Door County soaking up the scenery, the lovely shops and restaurants, and the great weather--68 to 72, no humidity. We ate at restaurants with great names like The Whistling Swan, Summer Place, Alexander's, The Chef's Hat, and The Cookery. I even found a few Christmas presents to purchase.
So how does all this relate to our writing world? Quite easily. How many times have you had a Plan A that hit a snag? You've had that story planned in your head until it should have been perfect. The memoir piece for a contest seemed to be a sure winner as you thought it out. Same with a poem that brought lines swirling in your mind for days. All you had to do was write the first draft, and you were home free.
Maybe that draft didn't turn out quite the same as it had when you thought about it mentally for days and days. It might sound flat, or you weren't able to get the emotion you felt into the words you wrote. After you read the memoir first draft over a few times, perhaps your thought about it being a contest contender wasn't right on the money. The poem may have seemed significant in your head, but reading the first draft makes you wonder what you were thinking.
What happens? You move on to Plan B after you've taken some time to consider what Plan B is. Rewriting, or revising, is a big part of writing. I'd say that most of us have to move to Plan B more often than not. We know that the first draft is seldom a finished piece.
There will be times when Plan C is needed, too. Do you consider yourself failing if you have to move on to Plan C? You shouldn't. It's all part of the writing world. Just as with our mishaps with our vacation plans, you need to take a deep breath and move on. Our last couple of weeks were pretty frustrating, but it turned out that we had a nice vacation break, despite the glitches. Don't let moving from one plan to another to another shower you with frustration. Take each thing as it comes and deal with it. In the end, you'll have a better piece of writing and maybe you can say you learned something.
I like how you use what materializes.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jim. When people tell me they can't think of anything to write about, I try to let them know that there are stories all around us. Start with something, and it often leads to more.
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