Didn't say much (anything) about writing or hot desking in my last post with this title, so I guess I owe you, eh?
First the hot desking: It's working out very well. I have been remembering to bring everything I need, and even a bit more, but that's okay. So far, I've been able to get a desk every time I come in. I was a bit worried a couple of times, because it seemed to me that I just squeezed in, getting the last desk available. It's odd not always being in the same place. It's even odder when it happens that I am in my usual place--like today, for example. I still look up at the shelf for my Kleenex box and have to remember that I now bring my own little packets each time. The drawers are always empty, of course, but I quickly fill them with my handbag and stuff that has to be repacked when it's time to go home. I keep a log of my times here, and so far I've used all eight of my pre-paid visits each month and it doesn't seem that I miss not having more. Of course, I can come in on the weekend if I want to, thanks to my $25 extra for the key and 24/7 access privilege. Haven't used that yet, but I do quite regularly use this privilege by staying well past 5pm closing time. This is now nearing the end of my third month of hot desking, and I'm perfectly happy with the way it's going.
Now. Writing. Hm. Okay. It's not the way I would like it to be.
I have not been able to face the novel that got jumbled in the USP thing that turned my work into a mess of upside-down question marks, etc. I just can't face it yet. I haven't even looked to see how much of it was salvaged by being printed out. It's on a shelf in my bedroom, giving me nightmares. That's the first book in the trilogy, its title is House of Secrets.
The second book in the trilogy is called Baby's Breath. I've taken the rewritten first few pages of chapter one of that to the critique group mentioned in the previous post. Seven hundred words out of seventy thousand--to be reread and rewritten according to advice from peers who have no idea what the first book was about or what this book is going to be about. Yes, the feedback is helpful. Yes, they have good suggestions. But it would take a thousand years to get the rest of it done, at this rate. So, instead of doing that, I've taken to making character sketches of about 700 words for them to critique, and maybe some them will make it into the book. However, at the age of 80 (I'll be 81 in less than three months) I'll need to live to be 200 to complete the trilogy.
Here's an idea: Maybe if I work on book 2 (Baby's Breath) in July--just as if it were a Nanowrimo project, write the whole thing in 30 days. Then, in August, pound out book three, I think it's to be called something like Flames and Flowers, or Flowers and Flames, or something--about arson--and do that in 30 days. July and August each have 31 days, so I can cheat a little and maybe take a day or two off or do a double shift. At least that way I'll have the rough drafts down and can really concentrate on getting all three books done by the end of the year. It means taking a couple of months off from working on my autobiography, If Anyone Should Ask, but … well, we'll see which takes priority. My writing these last few months has been almost entirely working on the autobiography. I've now completed four decades.
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
writing and hot desking
My life hasn't been all doctors and hospitals this May and June.
Let's deal with writing first: A few months ago I joined a group of writers who meet every second Saturday morning from 9:30 to noon at a local restaurant. We have a leader who has been published multiple times and is able to keep us under control, most of the time. After an introductory "lesson" on some aspect of the writing life, we take turns reading something we have written. We're put on a reading list in advance so we all come prepared with the right number of copies to pass around. We must not go beyond the word maximum, which I confess I'm not quite sure of, but I think it's about 800 words. We read aloud the piece we've prepared while the group follows and makes notes on the distributed copies. After the reading, people offer their comments and suggestions and the reader/writer listens but is not supposed to explain or otherwise interrupt the "feedback" (they don't like the word "critique" because it sounds too much like criticism). When that is all done, the reader list for the next meeting is established and many of us stay for lunch in the restaurant to continue chatting.
The "sessions" consist of about six meetings, I think, and we pay about $18 for the leader's photocopying, plus a couple of dollars for refreshments. The restaurant proprietor, Jon, provides coffee and hot water and drinking water for the $2.50 cash, and the other refreshments (doughnuts or scones, etc.) are included in the prepaid $18. I've now attended two of these sessions, but have decided to take some time out until maybe September or January.
That's the critique group part of writing.
Then there's the conference part. I've signed up for the Surrey International Writers' Conference which will be held in October 2019. I've got my hotel arranged, plus a few days with friends in Vancouver, but still need to get my flights set up. The whole thing about transportation gives me a bad taste. First off, I'm annoyed that Greyhound has abandoned all of Western Canada, and that was my preferred method of transportation. Second, while I have nothing against flying, I detest airports. I have no other choice. I could rent a car and drive the 500 km each way, but I hate driving even more than I hate airports.
Writing? Oh yeah. There's that, too, isn't there? Ok. Next post.
Let's deal with writing first: A few months ago I joined a group of writers who meet every second Saturday morning from 9:30 to noon at a local restaurant. We have a leader who has been published multiple times and is able to keep us under control, most of the time. After an introductory "lesson" on some aspect of the writing life, we take turns reading something we have written. We're put on a reading list in advance so we all come prepared with the right number of copies to pass around. We must not go beyond the word maximum, which I confess I'm not quite sure of, but I think it's about 800 words. We read aloud the piece we've prepared while the group follows and makes notes on the distributed copies. After the reading, people offer their comments and suggestions and the reader/writer listens but is not supposed to explain or otherwise interrupt the "feedback" (they don't like the word "critique" because it sounds too much like criticism). When that is all done, the reader list for the next meeting is established and many of us stay for lunch in the restaurant to continue chatting.
The "sessions" consist of about six meetings, I think, and we pay about $18 for the leader's photocopying, plus a couple of dollars for refreshments. The restaurant proprietor, Jon, provides coffee and hot water and drinking water for the $2.50 cash, and the other refreshments (doughnuts or scones, etc.) are included in the prepaid $18. I've now attended two of these sessions, but have decided to take some time out until maybe September or January.
That's the critique group part of writing.
Then there's the conference part. I've signed up for the Surrey International Writers' Conference which will be held in October 2019. I've got my hotel arranged, plus a few days with friends in Vancouver, but still need to get my flights set up. The whole thing about transportation gives me a bad taste. First off, I'm annoyed that Greyhound has abandoned all of Western Canada, and that was my preferred method of transportation. Second, while I have nothing against flying, I detest airports. I have no other choice. I could rent a car and drive the 500 km each way, but I hate driving even more than I hate airports.
Writing? Oh yeah. There's that, too, isn't there? Ok. Next post.
June already? and mostly gone!
Whatever happened to May? Posting once a month is pretty bad as it is, but missing a whole month is almost unforgivable.
It was a busy month, of course. Seems like we did nothing but visit doctors, and that has continued through June, too.
My husband, Frank, was told several years ago that the day would come when he would need his aortic valve replaced. It appears that that day is almost upon us. So, many of those doctor visits were related to that upcoming event.
A week ago Friday, we had to spend a couple of nights in a hotel in Kelowna because he needed to be at Kelowna General Hospital at 7am for an angiogram and was not allowed to go home until the day after the procedure. Tomorrow we have to go back to Kelowna (a city about an hour drive from Penticton, where we live) for a consult and more tests. Last time, we got my daughter-in-law to drive us to Kelowna and help us get settled in the Royal Anne Hotel, my son Dave came and helped us get from the hospital back to the hotel after the angiogram, and my daughter and son-in-law drove to Kelowna to bring us home. Tomorrow, my granddaughter will drive us to the Kelowna hospital from our Penticton home, and later in the day Dave will pick us up at the hospital and drive us back to Penticton.
As you can see, there has been a lot of focus on Frank's health. My health has also been an issue. I've been diagnosed with Caregiver Burn-out Depression. It's not clinical, so I'm not on medication. I do have Group Therapy sessions every two weeks, and can have one-on-one if I ask for it. So far, I've had only one of the individual sessions. I find the group very helpful, if only to prove to myself that my situation could be a lot worse. My husband's health is physical. Those caring for loved-ones with dementia have a much worse time.
As you can see, there has been a lot of focus on Frank's health. My health has also been an issue. I've been diagnosed with Caregiver Burn-out Depression. It's not clinical, so I'm not on medication. I do have Group Therapy sessions every two weeks, and can have one-on-one if I ask for it. So far, I've had only one of the individual sessions. I find the group very helpful, if only to prove to myself that my situation could be a lot worse. My husband's health is physical. Those caring for loved-ones with dementia have a much worse time.
One more thing has happened that is good for both my husband and for me: He is now attending Adult Day Care once a week, which gives me Saturdays free! And he gets to visit with other people and participate in games, etc., instead of spending all day watching TV. (The Saturday program is for those who qualify for the day care, but do not have dementia.) It costs only $10 a day, and includes a very healthy lunch which would itself cost a lot more than $10 in a restaurant. A bus picks him up about 9:30 am and brings him back about 3 pm. Best of all, he enjoys it. Next Saturday, caregivers and spouses are invited to join the group (about 9 or 10 of them) to go to Agur Lake for a picnic. That will be $3 each extra. I think we can afford the $6. Especially since I don't have to prepare a picnic lunch--that will be provided, along with the transportation.
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