She sighs.  Her head is resting on the arm of the love seat and she faces me as I sit here working on my post for today. Her eyes are closed and yet she sighs AGAIN.  As the coffee pot stops gurgling, I leave the recliner for that first jolt of caffeine.  Her eyes follow me.  I hear one foot hit the carpet and then another while filling my mug.  I hear her stretch. And then another sigh. Today she sighs, “When will she be done? When will she pay attention to me?  When will it be my turn?”

It’s early morning.  I am not yet ready for conversation. Please, just one cup of coffee. Is that too much to ask?  Yes, I am a morning person.  But I am a peaceful, quiet morning person with rituals and routines that begin the day calmly and quietly and without any fuss and especially so on a Sunday!

Here I sit with my coffee and I’m rewarded with her sweet, gentle kiss.  And then she races to the door, tail wagging and snuffling – quietly letting me know that she is ready to head outside.  She is ready to begin the day with her first outside excursion.

What sounds does Mya make?

The answer seems so simple.  When she is in the house, she barks to herald arrivals. She barks and barks as a vehicle pulls into the driveway, as a driver exits the car, and until that knock on the door is answered.  When she is outside,  Mya barks to share her excitement with me when she finds something outside that I need to see.  She barks when another critter (but not the familiar deer) invades her space.  But she also hums when I rub her belly, or cries out when dreaming, or that bit of an attention-getting sigh when ignored too long.

However, this morning Mya quietly goes outside to check out the sunshine and someone who is not working on a computer.

Peak into Process:  

I read Dana’s “Be Inspired” and followed the link to inmanlilysaad’s “The Sound of Plates” (site is no longer available). I opened up my word document where I am drafting slices and put the title “Sounds” and then jotted 4 ideas:  Traffic, Mya, Early Morning Sounds, It’s the News but what does it sound like?  I sipped my coffee and considered each idea.  Thinking mode/no writing until that first cup of coffee was drained and refilled.  I picked up the laptop and began writing about Mya. I typed a draft that began with describing Mya’s barking.  I stopped and drank my second cup of coffee. And then I began to revise.  I began with her sighing because it was the first sound I heard TODAY from Mya. (Another day could definitely be different.)

Drafting/Revision, Process, Tagging, Previewing: 40 minutes from beginning to publication

Which is your focus?  Product / Process / or both?

When does the priority of your focus shift?  Or does it?

Check out Margaret’s comparison of writing to watercolor painting in her post “Technique” !

 DigiLit Sunday and Slice of Life!

Thank you, Anna, Betsy, Beth, Dana, Deb, Kathleen, Stacey, and Tara. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.  It’s the March Slice of Life Challenge so be ready to read DAILY posts!