Home > Dispatches > Daily Dispatches 2014 >Daily Dispatch #300

November 9, 2014: The Writing Life: Dogged

I’ve always liked the word dogged because it implies being persistent in the face of adversity. And it also has the word dog in it. What comes to mind in thinking of this term is the image of a dog (used to be Rainbow, and is now Ryder) holding fast to the far end of a tug toy.

Dogged – this is what I as a writer am – dogged. I have times, in fact many times when I would like to just throw in the tug toy and walk away from the person on the other end. But I just can’t seem to do this. Darn and double darn.


Ryder

I’m being dogged about working on Lessons Twice Learned. What I first thought was going to be an easy project has turned into one that is actually quite difficult. My setting (Beth’s riding arena) then seemed ideal for what I wanted to do because it kept me contained. The problem is it may be too contained. The bad part is that what goes in the arena is often the same old same old. The good part is that is forcing me to go back and forth in time, and recalling this, that, and the other.

Lessons Twice Learned was originally to be about my finding better ways of dealing with my supposedly pushy horse. However, it’s now also about how this returning rider has been dealing with her pushy horse. So this returning rider is now in her use of examples speaking for her cohorts, which are other returning riders who also have similar concerns.

My audience is limited since returning riders only constitute a small portion of the already small reading public. But this audience is also clearly definable. It’s sort of like voting – my non-horsey friends all have or share similar values, so I’m surprised when the wrong politicians get elected to office. The comparison to returning riders is this – my horsey friends all have similar values, so I’m surprised when others win the blue ribbons.

Next: 301. 11/11/14: The Good Weather Continues