Write like there's no tomorrow

With the Rapture on everyone's minds (whether you believe in the concept or simply mock those who do, which is wrong by the way), it got me thinking . . . what if tomorrow really didn't come?

Now, for the purpose of this blog, I'm thinking in the terms of writing--such a minor concept in the act of being translated or having been left behind to face God's wrath. (If tomorrow I should be Raptured, I'm quite certain I'll be too busy believing in miracles to think of much else, and if I'm NOT Ratptured, which is more likely, I still think I'll have bigger things to contemplate like which house to loot and how fast I can read the Bible).

But anyway, let's think about our writing and nothing else for a moment, shall we. Just for kicks.

If we knew tomorrow wouldn't come, what would you write today?

Would I write a blog? Probably not. Don't get me wrong, I love blogging. I do. But on my list of things to write, a blog wouldn't be it. Maybe I'd quickly drop a line saying something like, "See ya later, suckers!" but for the most part, I don't think 'd waste my precious time blogging.

Would I spend my day editing? You know, I probably wouldn't. I mean, I'd hate to leave a legacy of my crap-writing behind for others to have to decipher and read, but you know what I'd rather do . . . write.

I'd sit down at my trusty laptop and just attack the keyboard until the letters rubbed off and my fingers were raw and possibly bleeding. I'd write and write and write, until either the Good Lord or the devil himself came for me. That's what I'd do.

I'd free write.

I wouldn't care about my passive voice. I wouldn't care about my punctuation and exactly  where to place my commas. I wouldn't care if I had talking heads or shifting POV. I wouldn't care if I had plot holes or undefined characters. I wouldn't care if I crossed genres or who my audience was. I wouldn't care if an agent liked my work or if I would someday be published. I wouldn't care if I had a one million word manuscript or only enough to fill a novella. I wouldn't care about tensing or adverbs or be so critical of myself or . . .

I wouldn't care about any of that at all.

I'd write for the fun of it. I'd write because I LOVE it. I may even toss in several hundred exclamation points just for the heck of it (the poor exclamation point gets dissed too much).

I'd just write.

I think, for myself, I get so caught up in all the technicalities and the business side of writing, that I sometimes forget why it is I write in the first place. Sometimes I forget that writing is supposed to be for fun, for joy, for entertainment.

But if I only had today to write, I'm quite certain I wouldn't forget. I'd remember.

That's what I'd do. If I only had today, I'd write and write and write and have a grand time doing it too--a crazy lady without boundaries, slightly schizophrenic and completely euphoric.

Since I know that I'll more than likely be here tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that and so on and so forth, I DO have to remember the technicalities and the business side. That's a part of writing--a large part. It can't be ignored. Not if I want to be successful anyway. It's just the way it is. Hopefully, though, I won't let it be the LARGEST part of why I write. Not anymore.

I'll do my best to remember.

Because someday, tomorrow really won't come.

If you only had today to write, how would you spend your time? What would you do differently? What would you write? What writing rules would you toss out the door?

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