Kia ora Koutou, haere mai ki te wiki o te Reo Maori.
I’m a reasonable tidy woman. No cobwebs hanging from the ceiling or dust piles as high as a beehive on the carpet. Food scraps do not litter the floor or dirty clothes ooze out to meet you at the back door.
But. there is a pile of paper on my writing table. Composed of letters, information slips, cards, brochures, a copy of The Importance of Being Earnest, some scribbled notes in my terrible handwriting, and a card with the words, High Grade Apparel on it.
There’s a yellow card saying, I never thought you were that old, a printed out copy, in bold, of some of my poems. Easier for a visually impaired person to read. A note thanking me for giving an interview, a brochure from Chorus, a brochure saying Pride Fest Te Papaioea Palmerston North, some receipts, a card from Kapiti Hearing, a card from someone I used to know telling me someone else I used to know has died, a copy of a talk I gave to the Kapiti Children’s Writers group (that was a good night), an exercise book stuffed with papers which I’m not strong enough to open. I’ll just shut my eyes and biff the lot. You dont need to save receipts these days do you when everything’s online?
A couple of small advertising giveaways about plays coming up, not Sarah Delahunty’s SCENE which I keep in another place. Have you read these pieces? Interviews with playwrights, directors, information about plays coming up in Wellington. Great reading.
Three more cards, a copy of a manuscript which I liked, and about a hundred other things that I won’t list because you probably get the picture.
I think I just like to make sure I’ve read everything properly before I send it to the recycling bag in the garage.
Why don’t I do it the moment I receive it?
Well, I skim it of course, but then I think ‘I might need to check this’ or ‘I’ll read it properly later’ or ‘when I’ve finished work’. Or any variation on these three pathetic excuses.
Recently a friend said not to worry, everyone has a version of the same method. She’s probably right bit it might be a stretch to call it methodical.
Anyway now its done for another three months. I feel very virtuous and I think the writing table is breathing a sigh of relief too.
You have a similar or better system?
