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	<title>first drafts - Laurie Ann Thompson</title>
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		<title>Creativity Lost… and Found!</title>
		<link>https://lauriethompson.com/2012/04/27/creativity-lost/</link>
					<comments>https://lauriethompson.com/2012/04/27/creativity-lost/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Laurie Thompson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Apr 2012 21:38:02 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Personal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Writing Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creativity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[first drafts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Laurie Ann Thompson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[muse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Unpublished writing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[walking]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://lauriethompson.com/?p=1273</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[For various reasons (health, chronic pain, an aging pet, volunteer commitments, and the Pacific Northwest weather), I’ve spent the winter pretty much chained to my desk. Whenever I had a spare moment I tried to force myself to sit down and write—right now! As you can probably guess, I was supremely unproductive. And frustrated. You ... <a title="Creativity Lost… and Found!" class="read-more" href="https://lauriethompson.com/2012/04/27/creativity-lost/" aria-label="Read more about Creativity Lost… and Found!">Read more</a>]]></description>
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For various reasons (health, chronic pain, an aging pet, volunteer commitments, and the Pacific Northwest weather), I’ve spent the winter pretty much chained to my desk. Whenever I had a spare moment I tried to force myself to sit down and write—right now! As you can probably guess, I was supremely unproductive. And frustrated.<br>
You know how if you keep doing what you’ve been doing you’ll keep getting what you’ve been getting? Well, today I decided to try something different. I shrunk my manuscript (with the gaping hole in the middle) and my research notes so that they’d fit on one page each, I grabbed a pencil, and I went for a walk.<br>
Wouldn’t you know it, my creativity was hiding in the woods! I found her right about here:<br>
<a href="https://lauriethompson.com/creativity-lost/exif_jpeg_422/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1275" title="Exif_JPEG_422" src="https://lauriethompson.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2012-04-27-Photo-0050-bridge.jpg" alt width="300" height="225"></a><br>
Once I found her, the manuscript practically wrote itself. And I got to walk (hooray, exercise!) in the sunshine.<br>
We even stopped to make a few new friends on the way home…<br>
<figure id="attachment_1276" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1276" style="width: 215px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-1276 " title="Piglets" src="https://lauriethompson.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2012-04-27-Photo-0056-Pig-closeup-225x300.jpg" alt="Piglets" width="225" height="300"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-1276" class="wp-caption-text">Piglets!</figcaption></figure><br>
<figure id="attachment_1277" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1277" style="width: 290px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-1277 " title="Sheep closeup" src="https://lauriethompson.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2012-04-27-Photo-0060-Sheep-closeup.jpg" alt="Sheep closeup" width="300" height="225"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-1277" class="wp-caption-text">A sheep, one day before shearing.</figcaption></figure><br>
<figure id="attachment_1320" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1320" style="width: 290px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-1320" title="Goats" src="https://lauriethompson.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2012-04-27-Photo-0055-Goats-cropped.jpg" alt="Goats" width="300" height="208" srcset="https://lauriethompson.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2012-04-27-Photo-0055-Goats-cropped.jpg 335w, https://lauriethompson.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2012-04-27-Photo-0055-Goats-cropped-150x104.jpg 150w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-1320" class="wp-caption-text">Goats!</figcaption></figure>
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			<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
		
		
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		<title>Halloween Word Challenge 2009!</title>
		<link>https://lauriethompson.com/2009/09/18/halloween-word-challenge-2009/</link>
					<comments>https://lauriethompson.com/2009/09/18/halloween-word-challenge-2009/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Laurie Thompson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:38:46 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Personal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[challenge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[count]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[first drafts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[halloween]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[incentive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kimberly Baker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Laurie Ann Thompson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Unpublished writing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[word]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://lauriethompson.com/?p=280</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Kimberly Baker, superfriend and member of the dynamic trio, has challenged me to a war of words. She knows I need a swift kick in the *** to get a first draft down (especially of a fiction novel–gasp!), but she may not know just how competitive I can be. Even if I lose, though, I ... <a title="Halloween Word Challenge 2009!" class="read-more" href="https://lauriethompson.com/2009/09/18/halloween-word-challenge-2009/" aria-label="Read more about Halloween Word Challenge 2009!">Read more</a>]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://www.kimbakerbooks.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Kimberly Baker</a>, superfriend and member of <a href="http://scbwi-washington.org/8/advisory-committee.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">the dynamic trio</a>, has challenged me to a war of words. She knows I need a swift kick in the *** to get a first draft down (especially of a fiction novel–gasp!), but she may not know just how competitive I can be. Even if I lose, though, I win, since it’s just the incentive I need to make some good progress before our amazing fall <a href="http://scbwi-washington.org/21/professional-retreats.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Weekend on the Water</a> retreat in November.<br>
As part of the deal, we’re offering ourselves up for public humiliation… um, I mean, accountability. If you want to cheer us on (or scoff at me for my pathetic attempts), you can follow our progress <a href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=thZEDQTUkvzVhF6ovaCD2UQ&amp;output=html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">here</a>.</p>
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