I found this post in my ‘drafts’ folder and felt a pang of shock when I realised that it’s a year old. I haven’t sat on my yoga ball since I was pregnant, so it must be almost year to the day! I’ve no idea why I didn’t post it at the time, but here it is now. Enjoy! 🙂
So I watched Secretary a little while ago.
I remember being drawn to the cover of the DVD (what’s not to like about a woman bending over and gripping her ankles like that?) and then realised that it had both Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader in it. I’ve adored James Spader since Stargate, where he played this lovely, long-haired, linguistic geek, but I’ve not really seen him since. I’ve just not looked. Realising that Stargate predates Secretary (by almost eight years!) I figured it would be nice to see James again.
I started out watching the film on my yoga ball, stretching out my back because I’d been sitting in a not-so-great position all day. Maggie came along, kicked things off, but as soon as she got to the office, I realised I couldn’t sit on that ball and expect not to fall off.
James Spader was so deliciously creepy! I mean really, totally, wonderfully creepy (!) and realising that was how he played the character meant that I had to sit properly to pay attention. A couple of scenes made me really pay attention and I came away from the whole thing with a little tingle in my legs and a short story forming in my mind.
By the time I made it to bed and pulled my laptop into my lap, I had two characters in mind and the outline of an opening to the story that I knew would stop me sleeping if I didn’t start. So I did. At the time of writing this post, I’m 491 words into a story of undetermined length, featuring a loud mouthed, domineering business woman who works beneath a dull witted, meat-head of a man who has just brought his son into the company to be her secretary.
The second I started writing I realised that Raven was loose. Not that it wasn’t me, but more that the subject I had picked and the direction the piece was going was already far removed from my usual fantasy head. I had stepped very quickly into that headspace where Raven is most at home and when she rules the roost. I have to say… I liked it! I still like it and I can’t wait to see what comes out of me when I next put my fingers to the keys on that piece.
In fact, this is how I opened it:
There is something utterly delicious about leaning over my desk.
I don’t have to be doing anything special; just leaning over it is enough to send little thrills of pleasure shooting up and down my legs. When I take my hands back to the tops of my tights, underneath my skirt where the sheer fabric slides beneath my fingers like silk.
Another sensation I enjoy.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. I suppose I should explain how I got here in the first place and why on earth I would be leaning over my desk, tights exposed in the middle of my office on a busy Wednesday afternoon.
Naughty, naughty, naughty.
I’l keep you posted on how it progresses. 🙂
I haven’t written any more of this story, although I have found it again. Reading it now, as one might expect, gives me a little wriggle of amusement as I realise that even in the space of a year my writing has improved a ton! I know that sample is only a first draft, but I’m still gratified to see that even those have improved in the space of a year.
Have you guys rediscovered any writing recently? Maybe half completed stories, or blog posts you never managed to publish? What are you going to do with them?
Writing: A Conversation Without Interruptions 