There's a phrase that crops up in at least two of Elizabeth Wein's novels, Code Name Verity and White Raven, Black Dove. (It may also be in Rose Under Fire but I can't absolutely remember.) Wein writes about teenagers who fly airplanes in times of war, and at particularly nerve-wracking moments either someone shouts to the pilot, or the pilot says to herself, Fly the plane.
I'm guessing (Elizabeth? Want to chime in? And what name do you go by--Beth, Betsy, Liza, Liz?) anyhow, guessing that fly the plane is something pilots say, along the lines of riders saying shut up and ride. (I have asmall chronic tendency to overanalyze. My instructors tell me this a lot.)
Today I'm adding another phrase, courtesy of the fact that I completely missed my yoga class this morning.
I didn't mean to. I've been going to 8:30 yoga nearly every day for a year. I love my Tuesday class, and was especially eager for it since I had to miss yesterday due to a doctor's appointment. (I'm super, thanks. My asthma is the best-controlled it has ever been.) I got up thinking happy grateful yoga thoughts and I put on my favorite yoga top and some excellent pants. After breakfast I took my last cup of coffee to the computer. This is when I usually write my blog, but I still had my current work open on my desktop and I started with that instead.
And then it was past 8:30, and I'd missed yoga class.
I thought about that. I won't get a chance at another today, because they're in the afternoon and I'm leaving to drive my daughter to William and Mary. My body misses yoga. My brain, on the other hand, is really feeling happy--because I got so involved in my work I lost track of time. It's sort of crunch time on this novel. It's due November 13. I'm going to be gone for nine days during the rest of October, in situations where it won't be possible for me to write, and I need to do the work even it it means putting yoga on hold for a few weeks. So here's my phrase: write the book.
Write the book.
Write the book.
Write the book.
That's all I've got today.
I'm guessing (Elizabeth? Want to chime in? And what name do you go by--Beth, Betsy, Liza, Liz?) anyhow, guessing that fly the plane is something pilots say, along the lines of riders saying shut up and ride. (I have a
Today I'm adding another phrase, courtesy of the fact that I completely missed my yoga class this morning.
I didn't mean to. I've been going to 8:30 yoga nearly every day for a year. I love my Tuesday class, and was especially eager for it since I had to miss yesterday due to a doctor's appointment. (I'm super, thanks. My asthma is the best-controlled it has ever been.) I got up thinking happy grateful yoga thoughts and I put on my favorite yoga top and some excellent pants. After breakfast I took my last cup of coffee to the computer. This is when I usually write my blog, but I still had my current work open on my desktop and I started with that instead.
And then it was past 8:30, and I'd missed yoga class.
I thought about that. I won't get a chance at another today, because they're in the afternoon and I'm leaving to drive my daughter to William and Mary. My body misses yoga. My brain, on the other hand, is really feeling happy--because I got so involved in my work I lost track of time. It's sort of crunch time on this novel. It's due November 13. I'm going to be gone for nine days during the rest of October, in situations where it won't be possible for me to write, and I need to do the work even it it means putting yoga on hold for a few weeks. So here's my phrase: write the book.
Write the book.
Write the book.
Write the book.
That's all I've got today.
Elizabeth or E Wein to my friends! (pronounced "ee ween" - a spondee).
ReplyDeleteYou are correct about "fly the plane" being a thing that gets dinged into your head as you are learning to fly. You are trained to take care of things in this order: "Aviate, navigate, communicate" - the most important of these, especially in an emergency, being to aviate. In plain English, "fly the plane."
In fact you are onto me in more ways than one, because right after Code Name Verity came out in 2012 I wrote a vignette for The Horn Book equating "fly the plane" to "write the book"!
http://www.hbook.com/2012/05/blogs/out-of-the-box/elizabeth-wein-on-code-name-verity/#_
Good advice for anyone.