“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you until it seems that you cannot hold on for a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811 – 1896 American abolitionist and author.
I call my sloppy, rambling, unintelligible, boring writing my frogs.
These are the posts that go nowhere. They are way to the left of no good; they are lopsided and they croak like an army of frogs on the lily pad. Did you know a group of frogs is called an army?
This is the awful stuff. It’s swampy and mucky and holds little promise for a good outcome. I put these things aside and move on hopefully to something I can use.
And then sometimes when I go back to them days, weeks or even months later, a phrase or a sentence springs out at me and gains a life of its own. Then I have the catalyst for a new post.
So today I encourage you to kiss those frogs. Don’t rubbish them or discard them. You may be surprised if one or more does turn into a handsome prince and reward you with a great post.
Note – pictures from Microsoft free clipart.
“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in”
Andrew Jackson, 1767 – 1845
the seventh President of the United States
Good idea, Judith!
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Thank you friend!
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Letting something sit for a while or simmer for a bit can often see something juicy emerge when it comes to writing.
We have a saying here that sort of goes along these lines: “Eat a frog for breakfast and that will be the hardest thing you do all day”. In other words do the thing on your to-do list that is the hardest, first up and the rest of the day will feel like a breeze.
Frogs seem to get a hard press don’t they but really they are very clever creatures, adapting as they do to different environmental conditions.
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Ol’ Jackson was one stubborn fellow – his way or the highway
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Well hie was the boss!
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What is a group of toads called? I have them spawning in my pool cover every spring. No, I don’t and won’t kiss them. I catch them and relocate them down the road to the creek only after scooping out 300 of their little offsprings out of the cover.
As for my “frog” posts, I usually just delete them or hold them in trash for awhile. Like you said, sometimes a sentence will pop out at you and give you some sort of inspiration.
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A group of toads is called a knot. More absolutely useless information stored in the elderly brain! i always save mine as drafts and then go back to them later. Yes, sometimes they do get trashed but not until I have had them sitting there for a while. As we say – watch this space. 🙂
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This is a very good point. On a side note, I love frogs. Tree frogs, as you have pictured first, are my favorite, so thanks for that. Have a wonderful week!
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Thanks Katrina. I don’t see many frogs where I live now, right in the centre of town, but around my son’s property we hear them in the ponds.
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I love frogs ~ I save drafts and incomplete musings to come back to at a later date. I rarely toss them in the trash.
When we “eat the frog” (least pleasant task) first . . . the rest of the day seems breezy!
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I am all for eating the frogs first. Get them out of the way so we can get on with the things we like to do. 🙂
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I love your frogs and have a few of my own!
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Thanks Chris. Sometimes there are just so many frogs and then we get a clear run.
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Hi Judith. I appreciate this post. I’m afraid I’m not even coming up with frogs lately. Don’t know why. I think it’s time for me to change directions in my writing but I don’t know which direction.
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Hi Pat. Well I don’t have any direction. I just write about what I think at the time. Sometimes the frogs get through at a later date.
Just keep on writing on whatever. As Nike says “Just do it”.
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I do the same with some of my photographs. Every once in a while I go back and find something I like in one that did nothing for me the first go-round.
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I think a lot of it is how we are feeling at the time and whether the post or the photograph strikes a chord. Thanks for the comment.:)
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That’s a great idea, Judith. You have so much wisdom to share with us! Love Stowe’s quote at the beginning.
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Thank you Patti for that lovely comment. Stowe’s life and road were so much harder than ours and we all have much to thank her and her colleagues for.
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Thanks for the reminder of my unfinished posts. I do love the ability to start a post and put it aside for later. I will need to find the time to go through the many I have. I may surprise myself that there are a few close to completed.
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Come now Jenny – You are excused. You have those three delightful young people to keep you occupied not to mentiona ll the other things you do. I am always amazed that you even find time to write posts. 🙂
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I did not know that a group of frogs was called an Army so I learned something new today. 🙂
I have posts occasionally that are “frogs” but since I consider my blog a personal outlet for myself and a way to share myself with others, I still write even when it’s a “frog” day. Like you said, you never know….
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Hello again Sharon. We know that those ugly little tadpoles become beautiful frogs so just keep writing whether you are having a tadpole, frog or whatever kind of day. Thanks for the comment.:)
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You’re welcome! 🙂
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I love the thought of this… I have several frogs in my draft folder. Perhaps the drafts are mere tadpoles hoping to become frogs. We’ll see.
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Well the tadpoles, oif encouraged become frogs and then hopefully something will emerge that we can use. That’s my theory anyway. 🙂
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Great advice, Judith. I’ve been pondering what to do with posts that have been sitting around for the past year, in a draft state. Perhaps it’s time to revisit them and see if I can’t pull something from them.
Thank you! 🙂
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Often we just need to go back and revisit them – a different day a different set of circumstances, who knows what could become of them?
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