I'm writing this for all of us who struggle to find time to write. There are many time management books and there are books on how to get your priorities straight. On this Blog, I've shared the suggestion of Baby Steps to squeak out a few pages of writing in between a plethora of other tasks. (I just LOVE that word. "Plethora". Has such a wonderful feel on the tongue. Makes me think of geese winging south in a plethora of sqwaking. Which they are doing right now, by the way, and landing in my backyard...What? Oh, Right. Writing time.) You can see how time slips away when you're having fun or when you haven't made writing a priority or when you're watching geese.
Ta-Da! Enter Book-in-a-Month! Take the plunge. Stop having nervous frets over the fact that you still haven't finished that last scene. Push everything else to the fringe and write the draft of your next novel in 30 days. 30 Days! Wow!
Now, this exercise comes in a couple of forms. First, November is National Novel Writing Month. This comes with a web site, online support groups, a daily list of activities to complete and your own goals--number of pages or words per day, finish the outline, etc. Like Boot Camp. In a Chair. On your favorite search engine, type in "BIAM" or "book in a week" or "BIAW" and you'll find other groups to cheer you on this path.
I'm taking the non-online (is that a word? Not near as nice as "plethora") path. I purchased the book Book in a Month: the fool-proof system for writing a novel in 30 days by Victoria Lynn Schmidt. This is a sturdy book with places to take notes, step-by-step instructions ("Write 10 Scene Cards Today", "Brainstorm Characters") and lots of cheering. She takes you through the whole process methodically and steadily until you've completed a first draft.
She suggests adapting the process if you'd like. With my current life, carving out 30 days is just not going to happen. But four devoted hours every Saturday morning with bits and pieces through the week? That I can do. So I'm using Book in a Month to guide me, to give me a portable place to take notes, to make a commitment to regular writing and to keep my subconscious working on whatever writing activity is on the schedule. So far, I'm loving it.
I may not get the draft done in 30 days, but 30 Saturdays? Sure. It beats not writing at all. And I know once I've gotten deeper into my characters and plot, I'll make more time. I won't be able to help myself. I'll let you know how it's going next month.
Have any of you used a BIAM technique? How'd it go? Any of you ready to take the plunge?
Splash!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Pottering in the Garden with Elisabeth Rose
When my grandmother moved into this house in about 1965 it had an absolutely perfect cottage garden. The man who established it was the type who crawled around with nail scissors trimming the grass and glaring at leaves and flowers which dared to dangle out of line.
Grandma couldn’t maintain that standard but I remember as a teenager coming to mow the lawn for her with a hand mower. The emerald green swathe was so smooth and even that pushing the mower over the thick springy surface was easy. Hand mowers give a much smoother, less violent cut in case you didn’t know.
Grandma died in 1970 and I moved into the house in 1971. For the year the house was rented the garden suffered great indignities. The tenants parked their cars on the front lawn which wore it away in no time. After they left I lived there with student friends and we did our best to keep things alive in the garden and re grow the front lawn. Someone had a Belgian boyfriend who threw up his hands in horror when he saw the unpruned roses so took it upon himself to do that for us.
The shrubs and spruce type trees the original owner planted back in the sixties have grown into monsters which continually encroach on the power lines along the back fence. His plan was to plant quick growing trees to create shade and privacy then remove them when other slower growers had gained height. The biggest mistake he made was planting bamboo along one fence. What an absolute nightmare! Bamboo is the most beautiful screen but the most invasive plant known to man. We spent years trying to keep it under control with our back neighbour complaining periodically about bamboo shoots popping up in her back lawn. In the end we hired a man to come and cut it out. It took him and his son a whole day sawing each cane off and pouring poison into the stems. After a few years the rotted roots could be dug out. Another horrible job.
Now my husband and I have fits of gardening activity. Permanent water restrictions mean no-one has a beautiful green lawn anymore unless they use tank or recycled house water. People are turning to hardy native plants like grevillea, kangaroo paw and bottle brush and using tanbark or woodchips to retain moisture and minimise grass cover. We’ve wood-chipped birch trees lost in the drought and spread that over the front half of that long gone perfect lawn of the sixties. We’ve planted native shrubs and grasses as groundcover.
Yesterday I attacked the two ornamental box bushes with hedge clippers so visitors can walk unhindered to our front door. Every time I do that job I have a fleeting urge to take up topiary and sculpt a fancy shape but they’re still square (ish). We’ve planted cucumbers, tomatoes, chilli, garlic, chives, leeks and parsley in a little bit of reclaimed bamboo land in the sunniest back corner and my husband goes out and gives them little pep talks each morning as he waters. We’ve erected a possum proof fence too because the first year we planted out our brave little parsley and herb patch the rotten possums (who live in our unused chimney) ate the lot overnight. Except the basil, they left that. Now the biggest threat is the ball from next door flying over the fence and squashing something.
Our back garden is still reminiscent of that original garden with graceful curving lines, a few surviving roses and most of the shrubs, and of course those whopping great trees on the back fence. The grass there is beautifully green at the moment thanks to recent spring rain but is showing signs of drying out now the weather is warming up. We’re not allowed to do anything other than hand water in the early morning or evening so unless we get more rain soon the green will be short-lived. But because of the extra earlier rain the orchid I inherited from a dear elderly neighbour flowered for the first time in years. The lilac has just finished a wonderful show, the azaleas are out, roses are just starting and my new season petunias look very bright and cheerful.
Although we’re spasmodic gardeners we have a great sense of achievement when we spend a few hours tidying and planting, and we’re really looking forward to our first tomatoes. There are four little green blobs there already.
The heroine of my current work in progress is a gardener. Are you a gardener?
Grandma couldn’t maintain that standard but I remember as a teenager coming to mow the lawn for her with a hand mower. The emerald green swathe was so smooth and even that pushing the mower over the thick springy surface was easy. Hand mowers give a much smoother, less violent cut in case you didn’t know.
Grandma died in 1970 and I moved into the house in 1971. For the year the house was rented the garden suffered great indignities. The tenants parked their cars on the front lawn which wore it away in no time. After they left I lived there with student friends and we did our best to keep things alive in the garden and re grow the front lawn. Someone had a Belgian boyfriend who threw up his hands in horror when he saw the unpruned roses so took it upon himself to do that for us.
The shrubs and spruce type trees the original owner planted back in the sixties have grown into monsters which continually encroach on the power lines along the back fence. His plan was to plant quick growing trees to create shade and privacy then remove them when other slower growers had gained height. The biggest mistake he made was planting bamboo along one fence. What an absolute nightmare! Bamboo is the most beautiful screen but the most invasive plant known to man. We spent years trying to keep it under control with our back neighbour complaining periodically about bamboo shoots popping up in her back lawn. In the end we hired a man to come and cut it out. It took him and his son a whole day sawing each cane off and pouring poison into the stems. After a few years the rotted roots could be dug out. Another horrible job.
Now my husband and I have fits of gardening activity. Permanent water restrictions mean no-one has a beautiful green lawn anymore unless they use tank or recycled house water. People are turning to hardy native plants like grevillea, kangaroo paw and bottle brush and using tanbark or woodchips to retain moisture and minimise grass cover. We’ve wood-chipped birch trees lost in the drought and spread that over the front half of that long gone perfect lawn of the sixties. We’ve planted native shrubs and grasses as groundcover.
Yesterday I attacked the two ornamental box bushes with hedge clippers so visitors can walk unhindered to our front door. Every time I do that job I have a fleeting urge to take up topiary and sculpt a fancy shape but they’re still square (ish). We’ve planted cucumbers, tomatoes, chilli, garlic, chives, leeks and parsley in a little bit of reclaimed bamboo land in the sunniest back corner and my husband goes out and gives them little pep talks each morning as he waters. We’ve erected a possum proof fence too because the first year we planted out our brave little parsley and herb patch the rotten possums (who live in our unused chimney) ate the lot overnight. Except the basil, they left that. Now the biggest threat is the ball from next door flying over the fence and squashing something.
Our back garden is still reminiscent of that original garden with graceful curving lines, a few surviving roses and most of the shrubs, and of course those whopping great trees on the back fence. The grass there is beautifully green at the moment thanks to recent spring rain but is showing signs of drying out now the weather is warming up. We’re not allowed to do anything other than hand water in the early morning or evening so unless we get more rain soon the green will be short-lived. But because of the extra earlier rain the orchid I inherited from a dear elderly neighbour flowered for the first time in years. The lilac has just finished a wonderful show, the azaleas are out, roses are just starting and my new season petunias look very bright and cheerful.
Although we’re spasmodic gardeners we have a great sense of achievement when we spend a few hours tidying and planting, and we’re really looking forward to our first tomatoes. There are four little green blobs there already.
The heroine of my current work in progress is a gardener. Are you a gardener?
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