All traditions start somewhere. This one starts in 2015. All through November I set the timer for steeping my morning tea, pick a word or an image or a stray thought, and write to that point until the tea is brewed and ready. Could be two minutes, could be six or seven. I could end up with a little story, stream-of-consciousness musings, or drivel. Quality isn’t the point, nor length, nor even content. At the end of the month I will be richer by 28 wordings that took no more time to create than it took to brew tea.
I am a professional writer, but I am not making a living at this writing gig. I can fritter away a month on a creative experiment. While others hammer and chisel away at the monumental task of producing a full novel draft in thirty days, I will find out what unpolished gems result from this one small daily discipline.
The most daunting part of this (other than setting up a whole new author site to accommodate it) was the thought of coming up with ideas I might want to write about. Well, that’s what I thought until I gave myself time to think. I have more than enough ideas for a week already. Yay, me!
1 November: Winter
2 November: Otters
3 November : Do I Have To?
4 November: Tea Remarks Pt 1
5 November: Distraction & Concentration
6 November: Blankets
7 November: Tortoises & Hares
8 November: Gargoyles, Monster Movies, and Visiting Cemeteries
9 November: Quality of Light
10 November: Mindful Teatime
11 November: Sibling of the World
12 November: Just Write
13 November: Demolition Dreams
14: November: On Being a Wallflower
15 November: Making Makes Us Human
16 November: Some Days
17 November: Pets Are Better Than Pie
18 November: Offensive Defenses
19 November: Aging Gracefully. Or not.
20 November: Not a number!
21 November: Manic Pixie Nightmare
22 November: The Significance of a Hole
23 November: Note to Self
24 November: Let It Rain
25 November: Thankfulness
Thanksgiving: NO POST!
27 November: Size Matters
28 November: Storm Dreams
29 November: Endings Are Beginnings
And that’s a wrap.
4 responses to “Tea Timer Collection”
There is a tea called Manic Pixie Nightmare? Stop the world, I wnat to get off.
LOL, no. But if I’m ever so famous I can afford it, I promise to give Serena her own tea blend by that name. (Naomi likes dragon pearl jasmine. Alison is a fan of Lapsang Souchong.)
Interesting idea, to put together writing and tea! I think I’m too undisciplined for this, I would end up with cold tea and a fevered collection of words.
Ha! I did too, a lot of the time. Once I start writing, I have trouble stopping. Overall it was a fun experiment, one I will definitely repeat next autumn.