Bird on Bird • Battling Writers Block

So, on Wednesday while my sister Allison, brother and I were at our elderly neighbor's house and his "girlfriend" came over to meet us.

Our neighbor, Dale, is 87 and he lost his wife about six years ago. He hired my sister and I to do house cleaning and my brother to do yard work.

Last year he met an elderly lady named Sudie, who lost her husband two years ago and they have such an adorable friendship. I guess Dale told her about us, because while we were up at his house he asked us to wait because "Sudie wants to meet you in the worst way." It was cute:) 

I called my mom and asked her if we could stay a while longer, and after reviving the okay, we waited.

Finally the knock at his front door came, and in came the sweetest grandma looking lady you have ever seen. She was from the south, so she has an accent:)

And anther thing is she is very outgoing, while Dale is reserved and used to his quiet routines.

Sudie told us three to tell her about ourselves. So we did, and she pulls out this little notebook and writes down our names and what we like. "I will see if I have any books about those." She said with a big smile. Then she went on and told us a story called Bird On Bird:

"There was a boy who had to write a paper about a his State bird,"she said,"and he put it off for days and days until the night before he had to turn the paper in. His dad asked if he could read it. "I didn't write it yet, pa," he said. "I don't know how to start it." His dad looked at him and said,"just start with one bird and when you're done, start with a bird that the first one made you think of and go on and on until you get your paper done about the state bird." She smiled and bobbed her head.

"That's how you get past a block. You just keep going on with little things until you get the big thing done."

"Rabbit trails!" My sister laughed.

"Yes, yes. Rabbit trails. Bird on bird. This is what helped me write my book."

And so, dear fellow writers, give this a try! I haven't had a chance to try her method, but I'll do it as soon as I can.

I guess I did have a chance to try it, because it did take a rabbit trail to say what I wanted to. I love it how that works.

Have a good day, blogglings!

Yours sincerely,

Maddie