One example of this is the laptop messenger bag. Now to me it looks like a form of the book bags I remember from school. And I guess in a way it is.
However, as our society moves into more modern technology, we adapt and change. People began to carry their laptops with them so they needed a way to protect them and transport them easier. Thus the book bag comes into play. Since it no longer carries our books we re-name it, make a few minor changes and a new product is born - the laptop messenger bag. I’ve also seen this happen with clothing trends and fads.
What does this have to do with writing or even reading, you ask.
In writing, we all have had a time when we begin a project (whether it’s a book or just a letter to a friend) and can’t get much past the first few lines or paragraphs. Sometimes if we put that aside for a bit and come back to it with fresh eyes, we see a way to re-write (re-name) it so that it becomes what we wanted to say to start with.
For writers, think about those short little blurbs you jotted down years ago before you became a serious writer. If you pulled those out today and re-worked them a bit, what would you have? Making something old new again can work in writing too.
As for reading, if I put a description to my reading I can get bogged down. With this description it can become work - I do book reviews. But if I re-name what I do - I read for pleasure and share my thoughts with others - then it doesn’t have the same pressure feel to it.
What about you? If you’re a writer, have you re-named a piece of earlier writing and made it work? If you’re a reader, do you put pressure on yourself to read more by renaming what you do?
Just a side note: If this post sounds a bit like rambling, blame it on the 6 to 8 inches of snow Georgia received Sunday, Jan. 9, and is still here Saturday, Jan. 15, and looks like it’s never going away. At the time I wrote this, I hadn’t been out in the real world in a number of days. LOL
What are you re-naming?
