Tag: conflict

The wait of a lifetime

She paced up and down the platform. She looked up at the wooden clock, tick-tocking at the most gruelling speed. She looked down at her feet, at her favourite shoes. It always helped her get through the queue at the hostel.

She turned back to see as far as she could. Still no train. According to the “Voice,” the tain should arrive any moment. And that was fifteen minutes ago.

She threw her arms up in exasperation and went back to sit on the bench. She took a book out from her bag, opened it, and stared at the fine print without taking in a word. A friend had demanded she read the book, and she’d been meaning to. Only, she hadn’t been able to get through the first page.

Now, however, she had to read it. A 12 hour journey with an iPod full of songs and no other books, she was ready to get this journey over with.

She still stared at the first line.

“It was the best of times.”

‘As if!’ She wondered to herself tearing her eyes away from the page, and turning to where her mind wandered: the winding track. Straining her ears for the faintest of whistling, she longed for the train that would take her home.

None came.

Writing. Grammar VS Feelings

grammar vs feelings

I like to think I know my grammar. But I can’t write grammar.

For me, it’s always about writing feelings. I don’t think about grammar rules when I write. As for the conscious rules that prevent me from typing “there” for “they’re” or “by” for “bye” are just — subconscious.

But beyond that, I don’t think of balancing my words with semicolons instead of a period, or adding extra emphasis within a parenthesis. Because, when you fixate on trivialities like spelling errors — blunders, in fact — you often forget what want to say. I often forget what I want to say.

Because writing, for me, is being in the moment. It’s a calling: Just write.

But a good piece of writing is slower than spontaneous. It’s a beautiful paradox of words: writing is re-writing, whereas first drafts are just drafts.

I don’t let my mind get in the way of my writing. Everything I know about grammar and spelling just sits in my head, waiting for me spill my thoughts on to the screen.

Because only once the thought is out there, can you go about making it make sense. And that’s editing.

If I’m to edit as I write, I’ll never get through the writing phase to say whatever I meant to.

I don’t write the best gramma(r)tical sentence; I re-write it.