Too Fast or Too Slow

I was given an assignment in the online short story writing class I'm taking from Jessica Barksdale Inclan.  It was: Write a scene about a lie, a second one about lust, and a third about a party.  I was to take five minutes for each subject.  I thought it was an exciting challenge, but the minute the time began, I realized how slowly a sentence takes to get out on paper or keyboard/screen.  I swear that the clock sped up as soon as I started to write.  I'm certain of it, and I'll bet big money on it.  Zillions.  

My admiration for sports writers and journalists who have to meet a deadline went waaaaay up.  Hats off to those guys! I wrote a lot of garbage that I instantly deleted and tried again.  Same result.  Wow.  Dead in the water.  Missed my mark by a mile.  As a matter of fact, I am going to tell my teacher that my dog ate my homework.  I call my delete key "Dog."  

Later, after more writing - not the same assignment - I found myself staring at my screen, waiting for a page to load. My problem stems mainly from owning an old-school modem that kicks me off (of what?) pretty frequently and laughs at me the rest of the time.  It was moving so slowly at one point that I found myself blowing on the screen to hurry it.  Not sure why that would work, but boredom does things to a person.  

So, thinking about these two representations of quickness, be it nimbleness of mind or fleetness of internet, I really have no idea how to get my mind thinking faster or what is going on in my computer or in the air - Apple now connects everything in a Cloud up there somewhere - that makes it slow or fast or anything, really.  

I just pray a lot and smile at my computer and remind myself to be patient.  I find alternatives to situations where I need to write like blazes and have small turtle icons and holy shrines around my home that I hope will influence the computer gods.  That and blowing on the screen every now and then.  Something has to work, right?