Friday, February 17, 2006

Wait Too Long To Take Up A Hobby

So I've made a hat and a pair of fingerless gloves, so far, and I've just cast on a corkscrew scarf in glittery eyelash yarn (kind of a beast to work because you can't see the stitches, but quite forgiving because...well, you can't see the stitches). And I've discovered something interesting. My microcassette recorder has a voice-recognition feature that turns it on when it hears sound and off after a moment or two of silence. Which means I can dictate while I'm knitting (*BUMP bump BAAAAAA*).

This may sound like I'm making a big deal out of nothing, but it's actually a discovery of some importance. The problem I have with first-draft composition, as I mentioned once before, is that concentrating solely on it causes me so much anxiety that I second-guess it as I go along, thereby adversely affecting the speed of the process, the quality of the work and any lingering enjoyment I might have of the whole affair.

I used to dictate while I walked in the park, which was ideal. Exercise, fresh air and perceived forward motion -- exactly what a neurotic needs most. But that's not always practical in the wintertime, especially on pitch-dark weeknights, which is when I have to write now that I work days. So any activity that will distract the internal censor while the lizard brain gets to work in peace is a great help. It's not quite a perfect solution because I'm not a particularly good knitter yet, so I have to send part of the lizard brain along to give the internal censor a hand with it occasionally, and the dictation slows down. But time and practice should address this.

Momentous discovery notwithstanding, I haven't done very much in the last two weeks, and whenever I don't work for a few days, I'm convinced that I'll never work again. But I transcribed my knitting dictation last night, as well as putting in an hour with the two articles I have due next week, so I feel that I can face you all again.

Word count: 19,593 (+2,111)

2 Comments:

Blogger spinnity said...

I've just been to Stitches West, where Sally Melville opened the show with a presentation about creativity. She says accessing the right side of the brain is easier with a task that is visually stimulating, physically repetetive & intellectually undemanding -- like walking, or knitting. So just you keep right on with the knitting & dictating. Research shows you are On The Right Track.

7:46 AM  
Blogger kathy monahan said...

That explains why knitters are such very creative people. :)

8:19 AM  

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