Lately, hubby and I have been sharing a car. This means I'm without a car during the day while he goes to work. He just started a new retail business and his days off are few and far between. He leaves at 8 AM and comes back around 10 PM, so regular grocery shopping has been out of the question. For the past couple of weeks, I've been out of condiments--you know, the usual stuff like mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup. Talk about dry sandwiches!Even worse, my new intern had to forgo hand soap when going to the restroom. After she'd come out, I'd be holding a bottle of Palmolive dish washing liquid and say, "Would you like some of this to wash your hands? Sorry, we're out of...well, everything."
So when I finally got the car, I did some major shopping, and condiments were first on my list. You don't miss the simple things like mayo on bread until you don't have them! The same goes with writing. Without some handy "condiments" it's hard to produce quality writing. It's those little things we take for granted like:
- A Dictionary
- Thesaurus
- Microsoft Word
- Spell check
- Our favorite style guides: Chicago Manual of Style, AP Stylebook
- Our favorite must-have writing books: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, On Writing Well, The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters that Rock
- A comfy office chair
Those are some of my must-haves. Without some of them, my writing would be rather dry (like those sandwiches). So, what are your favorite writing condiments?
My writing condiments of choice:
ReplyDeleteA space heater for my feet! And a fluffy blanket nestled into my chair to keep my back and buns warm. The winters are freezing in Southern California. ;-)
Other must-haves:
My MacBook Pro
My lap desk http://tinyurl.com/cx5xs5
And, of course, pjs and fuzzy slippers!
My MacBook and earplugs to listen to the tunes on my MacBook.
ReplyDeleteChill-out clothes, meaning sweats and fuzzy slippers.
Dark chocolate, preferrably 60% cacao; and a nice mug of tea, whichever flavor catches my fancy at the time.
If I'm doing some serious writing, I have to have a big shaker of serious silence. I have to have my Internet spice, too, but I have to be careful not to go overboard on that one. And, of course, a big old bottle of ideas always comes in handy! :-)
ReplyDeleteA little lamp lit beside my writing notebook.
ReplyDeleteA handful of M&Ms to help me pause often to chew over a phrase.
A binder that contains submitted manuscripts to help me feel like I'm making progress.
A ceramic bowl containing colored pencils for doodling and writing new thoughts.
Children's Writer's WORD BOOK to give me an idea of what words different age groups should know!
This is fun! Thank you!