Building a book, one twig at a time

I took my breakfast out into the garden and chose a spot under the magnolia tree, in the shade.  I gazed all around, munching my cornflakes, enjoying the garden.

A wood pigeon was busy, hunting for single twigs on our lawn. She’d find one then fly up, almost vertically, to the evergreen tree.  A quick look around to make sure no one was watching, then she sidled along the branch and disappeared into the foliage.  

This procedure was repeated over and over, as she built her nest, twig by twig.  Once, she landed on a branch and realised that this branch was not the one that led to her nest. She tilted her head, shifted her gaze, and quickly identified the correct branch and flew to it.  I can’t imagine she would ever be lost or confused, for long.  

I want to be that pigeon. I want to know immediately if I am on the wrong branch and to speedily identify where my correct branch is. And I think I’m beginning to do that now.  I’m making a point of reviewing as I go.

It’s important to track our dream’s progress and where we are on our path to it.  Not in the way of impatiently asking, ‘How much longer is this going to take?’  

Now, for me, it’s more about being clear on what I’m doing and how I’m doing it.  I’m asking myself questions, almost daily, as a reminder to keep myself on track.  Questions like:

What book am I writing? 

Why am I writing it?  

Why do I want to publish it?

Am I still taking the appropriate action to progress the book?

What’s the next step?

I’m doing this because I don’t want to waste any more time.  It takes not just time, but sustained effort, to gather all these twigs to build a nest.  I want to make sure I’m always on the right branch, building the right nest.

One twig seems like nothing, yet if you keep at it, collecting and carefully placing those twigs, the nest will eventually be built.  

I watched that pigeon for a long time.  She was relentless in her work and yet she was not hurrying or panicking.  I’m pretty sure she wasn’t worrying about how long it was taking her.  She simply did what she needed to do, slowly and methodically, certain the nest would be ready, in time for her eggs.

Like Mrs Pigeon, I am working with my diaries, editing and re-writing, one day at a time and one month at a time. Slowly but surely, I’m building my book.  I hope, if I continue to focus and take it steady, my book will one day be ready. Completed, in perfect time.