From Missing Cherries to Better Writing

My last blog post gave you ten things it takes to be a writer but it didn't cover everything. Also essential is:
- An obsession for detail – from spotting spelling and grammatical mistakes to working out what might be missing from your story. This is an obvious one which I won't go on about and some may argue that you can always get someone else to proof your work and offer suggestions on plot/character.
- Trusting your subconscious – realising that no matter how hard you try to make things happen at the 'right' moment – i.e. while you're at your writing desk – that the really important stuff only comes into your head when you're not even thinking about it, usually when you're not even writing. Unfortunately this means that inspiration hits you at the most inopportune moments – in the car, in the shower, 5 in the morning etc.
I was set off on this train of thought by some missing cherries (yes really!) As well as being a writer I'm also a busy mum and one of the (very) few luxuries I treat myself to is having the weekly food shop delivered. And sometimes things are missing. The last time but one the shopping delivery was missing some cat food, an obvious error which I spotted straight away. The supermarket in question kindly recompensed me with a voucher to cover the cat food and the delivery charge. So this time I decided to treat the family to some cherries – they were on offer but still expensive in my opinion! Anyway, the shopping was delivered on Saturday and as I've had a lot on my mind lately I didn't notice anything was missing at first. However at 5am this morning (Tuesday) I found myself wide awake. One of my first thoughts was “Where are the cherries?!” After trying and failing to get back to sleep I finally got up and went to check the shopping receipt and the cupboards. I was right – two packs of cherries were on the bill but there were none in the cupboards. Of course I know this will be put right and that will be the end of it. But the point I'm making is:
- how important it is to check the details; and,
- how the subconscious mind always finds a way of always telling you what you need to know.