WHAT'S ON YOUR DESK?

AUDREY MARIE DANIELSON
(Judge - First Chapter Contest)

You won’t believe what’s on my desk. I am sitting here looking at it, and even I don’t believe it. Going from left to right is a Compaq PC computer, Etherfast Router, Broadband Modem, a Geek Squad battery back up surge protector, a MAC computer and monitors for both of the computers sitting side by side. Also, there are 4 speakers, stapler, scotch tape dispenser, paper clip dispenser, stacks of papers covering on-going projects, my teaching schedule, a wooden nutcracker as seen in the Nutcracker Suite, pictures of the Bear Writers’ group members, CDs of all types of music but predominantly Celtic, 2 baskets holding various and sundry pens, pencils, pads of paper, tubes of glue, scissors, and many miscellanies.

There’s a stack of manuscripts for the First Chapter contest, a picture of my dog, Gizmo, a picture of my son playing his guitar, a computer angel, Dogbert, and baskets of stuff that I don’t remember. I’ll definitely go through it all someday, and maybe I’ll throw something out. I almost forgot that there are also two keyboards, one for the MAC and one for the PC. I was so busy typing this article that I forgot that I was using keyboards, which had to be on my desk—duh. Then, there’s the mice, or is it mouses? The mice are usually new because I break many a mouse throwing it across the room.

I must mention the stacks of paper waiting to be filed in the file cabinets. This stack used to be on my desk. However, it outgrew the desk, so now it resides on the floor under the desk. Because I like to have my Shi Tzu, Gizmo, by my side when I write, he elects to sleep on the stacks of papers. This does absolutely nothing for the orderly piles I envision in my dreams. Maybe he’ll be able to find the copy of that last manuscript.

I have a friend who works on my computer equipment and he refuses to sit at my desk. Too much clutter, he claims. Therefore, he takes the equipment away and works on it in his neat and pristinely clean home. I can’t understand what he sees wrong with my desk.

One day, I decided to clean my desk, making it neat and orderly. Well, the stuff had to go somewhere, so now I have a table holding all the old stuff and the desk looks exactly like it did before I cleaned.

STEPHEN ANGELOFF
(Judge - First Chapter Contest)

What's on my desk? Gee, I'm sorry I ever contemplated the answer to that question. Why, you say? Because, with the exception of the usual electronic equipment that hogs most of the available space, my desktop is covered with Things That Need To Be Done.

Letters come in the mail and get stacked on the corner of the desk for response, filing, or whatever. Paperwork accumulated in the course of the day winds up on the desktop, too. Periodically I sit down for an hour or two and try to clear away the snowdrift of paper. But despite all best efforts to the contrary, some things defy immediate resolution, acting as an ever-growing foundation for that which is yet to come.

But that's not what you want to hear.

You want to know what writing-related articles I have on my desk. That, at least, is easy—none. Oh, I suppose that pens and scratch paper could squeak in to be considered writing aids, but I won't be that inclusive in my assessment. Of course that doesn't include my faithful Dell, which is where I do virtually all of my writing. I recently added a second hard drive, so I now enjoy the luxury of  having any and all writing projects available at my fingertips.

Due to the crowded nature of my desktop, I have to keep other resources nearby. I have several dictionaries, a thesaurus, and various reference volumes in a bookcase two short steps away. When I work, I may stack several oft-used volumes atop the feared stack of Things That Need To Be Done. This saves steps, but more importantly, makes it easier to ignore the things I really ought to be working on.

For a  variety of reasons, I don't allow the Dell to visit the Internet, and this causes one major difficulty. Despite my love affair with books, I must confess that I have been and am unfaithful, and with increasing frequency. It's just too easy to look things up on the Internet. The range of available material might defy the Library Of Congress, never mind my little bookcase. It's easy, that is, unless your Internet computer is three flights of stairs and several rooms away.

Research breaks can be as disruptive or as refreshing as one chooses to make them. I like having the opportunity to stretch my legs, and walking away from a difficult project for a while can provide fresh insights and inspiration.
 

THROW MOMMA
FROM THE TRAIN
(1987)

Written by:
Stu Silver

Starring:
Danny DeVito
Billy Crystal
Anne Ramsey


A bitter, divorced writing professor
receives an offer from a
deranged student: he'll kill the horrible ex-wife if the professor
will kill his horrible mother.

 

SAY WHAT? Misused Words

Infer - to deduce from the evidence at hand.
      "Madam, am I to infer from that cigar you too are a smoker?"

Imply – to suggest something without expressing it.
      Her smile implied she knew the answer.
 

A MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF WRITING

She left her poor family—one less mouth to feed—and headed to Washington, DC. There, she served as a nurse at the Union hospital in Georgetown. The letters she sent home to her mother and sisters were so well written, they wound up in the local newspaper. Readers instantly recognized her intelligence and humor. The young lady named Louisa could write!

After completing one novel, her publisher, Thomas Niles, made a suggestion for her next writing project: “I want a girls story.” Louisa wasn't too excited about the idea (“never liked girls or knew many”) but she agreed to try. She wrote furiously for two and a half months and created a story based on her experiences growing up as a young woman with three sisters.

Little Women hit print on September 30, 1868, and became an instant success. Soon after its release, the public begged for a second volume.

Louisa May Alcott's story of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy not only brought her fame, it also helped to alleviate the family's financial burden once and for all.

“That dull book,” she wrote years later, “was the first golden egg of the ugly duckling.”
 

WHAT'S ON YOUR DESK? (continued)

This sounds good, but as often as not I begrudge the time lost waiting for my Internet computer to boot up and get connected (and for virus scan updates to load, etc. etc.). This takes even longer when Hewlett gets into an argument with Packard  and neither one has the maturity to back down. (Now you know the technical reason why you have to reboot.) And of course no Internet visit would be complete without checking for emails (how many new jokes today?) or a quick cruise through craigslist to see what fresh bargains are being offered. 

These are hunger-stimulating tasks. Once the Internet eye is again dark, it's time for a snack. As I eat, I peruse woodworking magazines for plans to build a new, bigger, desk. 
 

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