New things

I need to start adding pictures of the new things I’m doing, because visual aids are always fun. But in the meantime, new things:

1. Pan-seared a roast before roasting. It really does make for a better roast, well worth the few extra minutes it takes to add this step.

2. Ranch dressing; making my own took about 5 minutes, was almost ridiculously easy, and scored universal approval from the household. I’ve spent way more than 5 minutes just reading ingredients on salad dressing labels trying to find a brand not loaded with sugar, so this is even a time-saver.

3. Suzanne McMinn’s cheddar bay biscuits. Made a batch last night and only a few crumbs remain. Husband asks, “Where these hard? Can you make them again?” Not hard, and yes, I can. Pretty easy to mix up and bake to round out a meal.

4. Today’s new thing: her hot pocket recipe. Because everybody’s tired of sandwiches and hot lunches are always good in January. Since I mastered making bread a very long time ago (we will not discuss how long, but there may have been dinosaurs roaming the earth) I figure this will also be fairly easy.

5. Yoga, which is actually returning to an old thing but I’m counting it. It gives me an easy indoor workout when it’s not good outdoor weather and it’s also doing wonders for me. It’s calming and energizing and focusing. Why did I ever stop doing this?

So what does all this have to do with writing? Lots. Getting in a rut in one area leads to getting in a rut in lots of areas. Get in a cooking or fitness rut and it all becomes dull and routine. And it’s equally easy to get into writing ruts. In fact, if your sensory input is dull and routine, it’s almost inevitable.

So vary your fitness routine or take up a new sport all together. Stop making all the old standby recipes and start trying new things; the worst that can happen is that you end up feeding the family scrambled eggs or going out after scraping the failure into the trash. Make the same old thing in a new way, like pan-searing a roast first. 

As we feed our senses on sights, sounds, tastes, tactile experiences, we feed our writing. And it becomes easier to try something old in a new way or to experiment radically, not fearing disaster, because it can always be tossed out and another thing tried. 

Which leads me to #6 new thing, writing in Scrivener, which does have a learning curve, but now that I’ve got the basics down, I’m really glad to have a new tool to keep myself organized and to help me do things differently on the page, too.