Again, it’s been a while. Not sure what happens–but I’ll tell you what’s happened since last I blogged. In fact, I’ll post photos in no meaningful order. (Probably.)
We went to Florida to look at condos on the beach. That seemed like such a good idea, until we considered how much work the ones available in the place we wanted would be. First, the beloved and I don’t DIY together well. In fact–that could be the most expensive condo I’ve ever imagined–when we factor in the inevitable divorce! And we don’t want to pay someone else to do all that work. Hence, the conclusion–too much work or cost or both for what we want out of it.
Reading–a lot of reading. Reading, and reading and more reading. Some for fun–which has been great fun. My daughter and I read a book at the same time and discussed it all the way. Our own little book club. Lots more for work–which has also been fun because I love the line I’m trying to write. So–add analysis to reading.
Writing. Hours/days of writing. Because this is apparently my new process: write, write, write, write. Put words on paper. Think about those words. Do they draw characters I love who have real motivation to act the way the story is taking them?
Hmmm. Mostly. But then I find those are still not quite the words I’m after. Not the words that make me feel what I want to feel–because I want my readers to feel–mostly–what I’m feeling. Because each reader brings her own senses and experiences to a story, but I’m after translating the movie that’s making me happy and sad and making me long for a happily ever after. You know the movie I’m talking about? The one that plays in my head as I’m writing the story. I was stunned the first time I met a writer who didn’t see the story in her head. Anyway, I went through all that, and I was pretty happy. Then I set things aside for a week, and saw that I’d been thinking too much. So, now, I’m producing a flash fire version of those words I’ve banged at. Seems those were notes for the real story. (Try to ignore my messy desk. That photo, by the way, is of my son and daughter, wading barefoot in a stream in front of a castle in Scotland. I can’t remember which one. It was white, and a piper was playing in front of it. And normally, I remember, but I need to work, so I don’t want to take the time to google.)
I’ve also been knitting. I find writing kind of difficult in a car with the beloved and the daughter, so I started this afghan on the way to FL. Then, while we were in FL, and the afghan was about this long, I got distracted by a walk on the beach, mid-row, and when I started again, I twisted a stitch in a way I could not untwist. Eventually, I gave up.
Last night, my girlie saw that Johnny Depp is going to be in Dark Shadows later this year. I love Dark Shadows! I bought DVDs of the early shows a couple of years ago. Who knew there was Dark Shadows before Barnabas Collins and all those handsome turquoise candles, always slopping to the sides in their faux Revolutionary War era candelabra? Candelabrum? (No idea–no time to google.) So–last night, the girl and I may have spent an evening in Collins Port, ME, and I started the afghan over. In an irony that nearly caused me to run screaming into the snowy night–maybe you were wondering about the pic of already-melting snow above?–I twisted a stitch again. But this time, miraculously, I worked out the problem.
Now, though I’d love to knit through a few more DS episodes (the dancing in the Blue Whale pub alone is worth the price of admission–how did they make their bodies do that?), I’m longing to put a truckload of longing into writing!