ROW80

February 19th Check-in Closet Heroine

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

A brief check-in from me this time, as I have very little new to report.

In my last check-in, I thanked everyone who had commented on my check-ins the last few weeks.  However, I really felt that was insufficient, so I spent part of Friday and Saturday replying to comments. I could not continue to ignore all the support and help I was getting from so many ROWers.


Test mile: I managed to write the test mile most of the past few days, having fun with planning an adventure.  It has been so long since I have been the heroine–I think I was 15 the last time I wrote myself into my fiction.


I hope today to put a post on my other sites to act as a placeholder until I can get back to a regular blogging schedule.


Packing:  While not exactly a goal, packing has become my life.  Much as I hate to admit it, the luster has worn off packing; while I do not yet find it a chore, I find myself bemused by how one packs things only to unpack them a couple of weeks later.  I suppose it does help to organize things, and to plan how to put them in better order in the new place.


What I have learned: I learned that I have a lot of friends out there in the virtual world, many of whom seem to like me, pointing out my positive traits (not to sound too much like Sally Field). Beyond encouraging and supporting me, you gave me several good ideas about my writing slumps and chaos, for which I am deeply grateful.  

Please take a moment to encourage all the other ROWers here. 

Published by Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

I am the youngest of four children, raised in the old-fashioned Irish-American way. I suspect my mother encouraged me to write from an early age to keep me out of her hair, although she may have regretted the decision when my teachers began to call about the controversial stories I was writing. Thus I began my career of butting heads with the good sisters at my Catholic elementary school, and ended it by leaving high school for college with no diploma. I wear my high-school dropout badge rebelliously and proudly. In college, I became fascinated with the Middle Ages, which was described as a “starry night” by one of my professors. So began a trek through languages and legends that informs my narrative non-fiction and historical fiction, as well as my blogs. I love feedback and enjoy discussing ideas. I have an accountability blog for the Round of Words in Eighty Days entitled Leavekeeping; I write a blog on literary history, intellectual history, and the history of words entitled Lapidary Prose. I'm on Twitter and Facebook; my email is lapidaryprose@gmail.com.

9 thoughts on “February 19th Check-in Closet Heroine”

  1. I am aswirl and untidy right now, and read this post before the last. I just wanted to share with you that I have been feeling rather Sally Field in my own head, lately, too….thought it was just me!

    I like you, Sally. I really, REALLY like you! =D

    Affectionately,
    Another Sally

  3. My sympathies on the packing (one of my least favorite things to do), although it is an excellent time to sift out the excess and discover new ways to organize on the other side.

    I’m glad you are having a good time on your “adventure”, always works for me and does have an amazing way of brightening life. Can’t wait to see the journey results, should you decide to share one day.

    Have a fantastic week, Elizabeth 🙂

  4. I’m with you on the packing – or rather I should be, as I should be packing but I haven’t moved a single thing yet! errrmm guess I better get to it! yikes :/

  5. Glad you’ve decided to be the heroine! I think we should all think of ourselves that way in any fictional work. Your character can do all the things you might not be brave enough to do in real life..ride dragons, slay vampires, or something…oh I said real life, didn’t I? Even though you’ve thought of yourself as the secondary character, YOU wrote the hero/herione in the past so they were always some part of you. Now you’ve just recognized it and made it front and center.

    Good luck with the packing!! I’ll be at it all day today too. Progress? LOL is all I have to say. We’re supposed be done by the end of the day…but I think we’re only finished with about 2 rooms so far.

  6. It makes smile that you’re the heroine and you’re enjoying it! It will help keep you writing and I look forward to the end result.
    It seems like everyone I know is packing to move! I can just imagine hundreds of moving vans taking people’s belongings to new places in a caravan style. lol
    It’s great to have friends especially when they boost you up! Glad you’ve gotten some positive vibes from so many lately.

  7. Amazing, though, all the ‘stuff’ we discover buried in closest, long forgotten under a layer of dust and cobweb…I love moving because it makes me re-evaluate what I ‘need’ to keep. haha.

  8. See, I TOLD you that you could be the kick butt heroine! 🙂

    You seem to be feeling a little better. I don’t envy you the packing, though. I hate doing it. LOL.

    Oh, and btw, there’s nothing wrong with sounding like Sally Field. 🙂 I hope you have a great week!

  9. Yes, I also love this idea of transforming yourself into the heroine! That sort of thing got me through high school and college; now that I’m approaching some interesting transition points in my life, I’ve been thinking about resurrecting the process. 😀

    I’m glad to hear that the packing process is almost through. I’ve been eyeing my teeny apartment and all the stuff crammed into it, and trying to convince myself that maybe I should start sorting through now, that way when June rolls around I’m not so overwhelmed… but so far I haven’t been able to work up the energy to torture myself with sorting through things.

    Have a wonderful week, my friend!

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