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How Indeed?

Daily writing prompt
How do you write what people actually want to read?
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I find this prompt interesting. How, indeed, do we know what people want to read? I’ve started several posts lately that I’ve ended up deleting because I’ve found that what I’ve written doesn’t even really interest me. Generally speaking, that’s my guide–if it interests me, I trust it will interest other people.

Okay, not everything I’ve written will generate an enthusiastic response from all my followers. I know that. Not long ago Word Press started a feature where they show what you published on this date in years past. I have to laugh at some of those. For example, nine years ago today I wrote about the shocking cost of some toothbrush holders. Turns out you can spend hundreds of dollars on these things, and seriously, that’s ridiculous to me. You wouldn’t think there’s enough to that topic to generate a whole blog post, but I did, and based on the number of comments, it hit a nerve. But some of my past posts have gotten fewer comments, and I can only assume they didn’t interest people as much.

Beware when they say “standard size” bed pillow. The length and width may be standard, but not the depth.

I recently tried writing a blog post on how frustrating it is to buy something that says “standard size” only to discover, once I got home, that there’s nothing standard about it. But honest to God, every time I approached the topic, I struggled with the post and found it bored even me. So I trashed it.

Most of my past blog posts have been about something a little–or a lot–deeper than the price of a toothbrush holder or the size of a pillow. When I started this blog, I was going through a difficult time in my life, and I found that writing helped. Not just writing about what I was going through, but about lessons I’d learned in my life. I published two to three posts a week, and most of them seemed to be well received.

I’ve been working on a novel, and nearly all of the people in my writing group seem to like it. There’s one woman, however, who clearly doesn’t see its value. While most of us in the group hide our distaste for various genres, she seems to find it difficult to do so with my novel. So I take her comments with a grain of salt. I don’t really care for her novel, either, but I do see its value and I express that in my critiques.

Sometimes, you just gotta trash it.

I sometimes wonder how my favorite authors discovered how audiences will respond to what they write. How did they know this story or that would strike a chord? Is it the same as a blog post–if it interests me, it will interest others?

It’s both an easy and a complex question to answer.

Image Credits: Header © Bulgakova Kristina; Pillow © adobe king; Typewriter © Maryna; all–stock.adobe.com

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A Wrinkle in Time

People have stopped ironing. I don’t know what to make of this, except I know I cannot be one of those people. Some things, yes. I have shirts that I can live without ironing if I take them out of the dryer quickly enough and smooth them out. I have other a few gauze shirts that I not only can’t iron (per instructions), I can’t even throw them in the dryer. And there are the shirts that truly are wrinkle-free.

My cats are terrified of the ironing board. Yet, I still pull it out when needed.

Then there’s the clothing that must be ironed. My dad bought me a linen shirt a couple of years back that absolutely requires ironing. I have a linen and rayon shirt that supposedly is wrinkle-free, but you’d never know it. I hate ironing and wish I could fully embrace this trend of completely leaving it alone, but I can’t.

It’s another sign of being part of an older generation. I’m trying to avoid saying anything about how sloppy clothes look when they should be pressed but are not, because I fear that would make sound like an old lady.

Instead, I think about some of the things I do that an older generation would find appalling. For example, I wear jeans everywhere. I do own a pair of dress pants, but they’re seriously outdated, and I’m not even sure they fit. So when I say I wear jeans everywhere, I mean everywhere. Including church.

My uncle Bob died a couple of weeks ago. My cousin assured me their church is pretty casual, but I wasn’t counting on it being casual enough where wearing jeans to a funeral would be acceptable. I wouldn’t even do that at my own church. So tomorrow I’m off to buy a new pair of pants and an appropriate shirt.

I’m making sure both are wrinkle-free. Time to join the new generation.

Image Credits: Header © 100% HAND-CRAFTED; Cat Ironing © CrazyJuke; both–stock.adobe.com

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Mock Scratching Post

Both Mimi and Walter have started scratching my new sofa, which I’ve actively discouraged. Problem is, I don’t know if they think I’m trying to stop all scratching (which of course I’m not) or just marking up the sofa. So I pulled out an ottoman I had stashed in a closet. This was a gift from a friend, unfortunately, the cats tore it up pretty thoroughly. I was between scratching posts at the time, so I made a cover that they could sharpen their little claws on as much as they wanted. Now it’s serving that same purpose in the hope that they leave my new sofa alone. So far, it seems to be working.

I beg of you–don’t scratch up my sofa!!

Image Credits: Cesar Cat © Belinda O; Paws in Heart © Bigstock Photos; Cat Scratching Sofa © Viktor–stock.adobe.com

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Remembering

Today, as you probably know, is the twenty-five year anniversary of 9/11. Like most of you, I remember exactly where I was when I first learned about what was happening. Sitting on my bed with the yellow floral comforter, watching the Today show. The news before the planes struck was pretty dull and I almost turned the TV off, when I heard Katie Couric give the first indication something bad had happened.

Minutes later, when the second plane struck, I picked up the phone and called my brother, who, with his family, lives in Manhattan and had a view of the twin towers out of the bedroom windows. I asked him if he was watching the news, and he said no. I told him to look out the window and turn on the news. At that point I heard my sister-in-law cry out–she saw what was happening. Knowing they were okay, I hung up and continued watching the news. I had an appointment that day to get my nails done, but I canceled it.

In the aftermath, weeks after the planes struck, I remember my sister-in-law saying it smelled like death outside. The smell just clung to you.

The nation pulled together after that. Yes, there was controversy, and it continues. But we had been attacked. Today, we are severely divided, but we come together to remember a day we can’t forget, a day that we pray will never be repeated. We remember the brave men and women of Flight 93 who fought back. We remember those who caught an earlier flight to get home to their loved ones,, and in doing so, lost their lives. We remember…we remember.

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Disappointment

I found out something disappointing today. Some yarn that I’d ordered has been discontinued, and my order was canceled. Now, they gave me a full refund, of course, and a 10 percent discount on my next order. But I need the yarn I originally ordered to finish a project that’s sitting in a bag in my spare room.

Why is it that life’s little disappointments can have such a large impact on us? I won’t go so far as to say I’m really upset over this news–I’ve come up with a Plan B–but it’s staying with me. And I don’t know why.

I’ve tried to think of bigger disappointments that may have occurred lately that I’ve suppressed feelings about, but really don’t have any. It’s not that my life has been mundane, because things keep happening, but nothing that gives me a feeling of being let down.

Okay, there is one thing that’s been difficult for me. I can’t think of anything to blog about. I assume I haven’t been the only one to get the flashback notices, telling me about blog posts I made on this same date in years past. Ten years ago I was a prolific blogger, posting items three to four times a week. Now it seems that well is dry.

Nothing to do with this blog post–except the name–but I thought it was a cool picture.

It’s been fun looking back, and I keep thinking I’ll find inspiration in former posts. But so far, nothing. And that is disappointing.

When I come up with an idea, I do a search to see if I wrote about it before. Inevitably, I did. I do post things about my cats and that’s fun, but I’d like to write about more substantial topics, too.

So I’m sending out this request. If you have a distinct way of coming up with blog post ideas, let me know. And yes, I do look at the prompts, but they don’t usually do it for me.

Thank you!

Image Credits: Writer’s Block (header) © Zahra; Faces © F.A Nishat Anjum; Cape Disappointment © Husna; Friend helping friend © RATOCA–all, stock.adobe.com