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Patience, My Dear
Some people have writer’s block. Some have an inner critic/editor that seizes them up. Personally, I have an impatient little voice that wants it now.
Right now.
You heard me.
Published now. Perfect now. Fix that thing in your manuscript that you aren’t developed enough as a writer to fix–yeah that one, fix it now. Let’s get these edits done now. Come on, now. Now, now, now. New story down on the screen. Now. Right now.
Okay, it isn’t really that bad. But it is a bit impatient. I was sitting here trying to figure out how long I’ve been ‘writing’. From what I figure, I think it has only been two years. Somehow that can’t be right. I have learned so much. I’ve learned more in the past two years than I could have even guessed there to be about writing. But it is true. Only two years. Can that really be right? I’m working on manuscript number five. Sure, the first two are pretty much trash. The third has some major progression issues and number four isn’t particularly unique despite that fact that is is fine technically. Number five keeps stalling out. But really, I have learned and accomplished so much in the past two years that I should be proud and pleased. Yet, I apply the pressure to progress. To learn. To grow. To improve. To get an agent. To get published. To make a name for myself. And I think I am improving, growing, progressing. Actually, I know that I am! I can see the difference. And it has been a fun journey so far, and I’m not going to give up. While I may be learning huge things now, I am sure there is a lifetime of fine tuning progression to look forward to. I don’t think I’m going to get bored of this writing thing any time soon.
And while I am not wishing away the ‘now’ of my career–I am eager to taste the next step. And it’s because I am excited. I like doing this. I am having so much fun that it can only get better. I’ve never had this much fun having other people criticise me and my work. I’ve rarely had this much fun learning something new. I’ve rarely been this eager to get up in the morning and get down to whatever it is that I am working on. I even turn on my computer before breakfast–which for me is incredible.
I’m happy when I write. And while I enjoy this stage–which I feel is an important base for later on–I am excitedly anticipating the next one. It’s going to be great and I can hardly wait!
People Watching: Cottage Country Part Two
Today we came to a point where laundry could not be put off any longer–that is if we didn’t want to wear our bathing suits all day. (Speaking of which, I think I’m famous now as a tourist took a picture of me in my bathing suit. I’m so hot. Or maybe it is because it is overcast and dreary and I was crazy enough to be swimming while the big steamship went by.) Anyway, we went to the laundromaut.
The laundromaut is always good people watching, but it is even more so in cottage country. There are those who are uber-efficient and those who just go through it as another part of life. And then there are those who turn the whole place on its head and serve as entertainment for everyone. (Of course, there are those who waltz in and pay the attendent huge sums of money to do their laundry for them. As in about $7 for a small load and about $17 for a large load. I kid you not.)
Today, we lucked out and landed us some entertainment. There was a lady there who claimed that the washing machine at her cottage ‘blew up’. Just getting change from the change machine seemed like more than she could handle. She had to ask my husband about 80 questions regarding that. All amusing. Then she called me over to clarify how much money she needed for the machines and what denominations. Of course, apologising about having interrupted me–because watching the stuff go round and round in the dryer is so vitally important and I really should not have been disturbed. Naturally she stated loudly about not knowing how laundromauts worked and how she didn’t understand the attendent’s washing pricing. (Honey, it’s for people who don’t ask the cost, they just want to come back when their laundry is done. Money means nothing when it comes to not having to wash your own undies.)
The talk about coinage seemed to have been helpful and soon she was calling me over again–with no compunction–I am her peon after all–to drill me about how much poundage each machine could take? (Poundage? Does she really think laundromautians speak in poundage?) She then progressed to, were all the machines the same? How full could you make them? Could you fit 20 towels in each machine? I informed her that in order to get a good wash, you wanted to ensure that the water, which only came up so high in the machine, covered everything you put in there. Ah, yes, Head nod. What about these huge machines? Well, those are best for comforters, or really big loads. ($5 a load. Ouch.) And how long do all the machines take? I pointed out the timers, wondering just how many questions one person could ask–and didn’t she have eyes in her head? By this point I began telling her about the laundromaut in the nearby town that offers free coffee and popcorn and cheap wash on Mondays. And bit my tongue before I offered up–unasked–where the local Maytag dealership was.
So, anyway, she did manage to get her laundry in because by the time we were dwe were leaving she was asking her mother who stood around just as lost looking if the attendent would mind putting her stuff in the dryer if she left. Sure, for a cost. Oh yes, and then her children ran out onto the street.
That poor lady was probably having her worst day ever. As for me, a moment or two I won’t quickly forget, but for different reasons. 
People Watching: Cottage Country
It is an interesting place, this cottage country. It has become a playground of the rich. Or maybe it always was. You go to the modest grocery store and the parking lot is lined with BMWs, Lexuses, Mercedes, and other high end vehicles. Convertibles, SUVs and luxury cars. And our Yaris. It is an interesting adventure watching these people buying food. Interestingly enough, you see way more men here than at home when you go in the store. Maybe it is a novel sort of adventure for these rich men?
I watched two teen boys load up a cart full of all sorts of things. They had way nicer sandals than me. And they had no regard when it came to prices as they just grabbed anything and everything off the shelves as they went. It was actually quite liberating to watch. In the parking lot, I watched them load their food (if you could call it that) into a vehicle that probably cost as much as my first house. It would be interesting to see what their everyday life is like. To see what they expect from the world, what they think life is really like.
Some women come to the grocery store with their bathing suit cover up and hair pulled up all fancy in a ‘casual’ way. But they look fancy anyway. Maybe it’s because they’ve washed their hair at least three times in the past three days. Or are wearing make up. Or ironed their bathing suit cover.
The funny thing is that I never noticed that I was treading among the ‘rich’ until other people started pointing it out to me. And even now, I’m really not that good at picking them out, even if they were parking their Lexus out front of their million dollar cottage. I guess to me a car is a car, big or small and a cottage is a sacred thing passed down generation after generation, not caring if you chose the big city, big job, big paycheck route or not. It’s something that is part of your life. A part of your summers.
As a writer, I question myself from time to time. I mean, if I walk into a grocery store and don’t notice all the rich people until others point it out…well then how perceptive am I really? And will it show in my writing? Or is it just a blessed innocence and acceptance of others that has actually enriched my perceptions of the world and thus my writing?
The Year of the Bug
The world is full of animals and those closest to you tend to become nothing more than background. For example, do I really notice sparrows? No, not so much. But here, in a totally different area of the world…I’m noticing the animals all right! Particularly the bugs.
The no-seeums in particular. My daughter is like some sort of scrum-diddily-umptious treat for those nasty little beasts. She has 33 bites on her head alone! And it isn’t like I rubbed her in bug yum-yum and left her in the bushes. Really, I didn’t. I’ve been dousing her in kids bug spray which seems to work on everything but no-seeums. So she is now going to have three headed babies when she grows up because I have been using deet stuff on her. It’s either that or have a bloody, bleeding kid. Ouch. Hang on, she is already bloody and bleeding from all the bites…33 to be exact. They seem to like her hair. Anyway, we cut her hair, shoved a hat on her, gave her head a good scrub, doused her in bug spray and well, she is mostly left alone now. Sorta. She’s probably pretty tired of her mother hanging over her inspecting her and yanking bugs out of her hair. That and whipping out the After Bite stuff as soon as I spot her scratching. I feel like some sort of combat medic with my pockets full of creams and sprays, ready to defeat the sneaky enemy. The drugstore said they can barely keep bug bite anti-itch stuff on the shelves and had to get us a tube from their just-in shipment. It’s all the rage, boys and girls. Go get bitten.
Anyway, enough about bugs. Well, except ticks. I got a tick when we were geocaching in some wet bushes. It didn’t bite me though. I discovered it walking around on my toes afterwards and was pretty much imagining ticks all over me for the next few hours whenever an itch came up. And let me tell you, plenty of itches came up. We even pulled off road for a family inspection. No other ticks. Evidently it’s a great year for picking up Lyme Disease. (It’s all the rage too!)
I have, however, seen some interesting bugs in my adventures. A really cool iridescent green one with yellow legs. That was cool. And plenty of others.
Baby Swallows
Anyway, on our adventures we have also seen a bear, a moose, ducks, loons, spiders, what we think may have been a wolverine, squirrels, chipmunks, seagulls, chickadees, nut hatches, baby swallows, and the world’s friendliest gophers. Seriously. Check it out:
I liked those Cheerios, what else do you have?
What about cameras? Are they edible?
If I run and jump, can I get to the cooler?
And there we have it, animals thus far and what I now declare, the year of the bug.
Public Service Announcement: Yogurt
I would like to bring to everyone’s attention that yogurt with fat in it is not evil. Please eat some. In fact, eat a lot.
Evil, evil, evil. No fat/low fat is evil. Evil, evil, evil. Repeat after me: evil, evil, evil…
Why on earth is Jean going on about yogurt with fat in it, you may wonder. Well, let me tell you a funny story. Over here in rich cottager land (I’m not rich–although sometimes I visit. I am actually rich in that I have everything I want and life is wonderful) the grocery store has NO yogurt in the big tubs that has fat in it. Let me say this again, no yogurt with FAT. What the hell?
I actually pulled aside the dairy guy who looked about my age, maybe a few years older, and asked, “Do you have any big tubs of yogurt that has fat in it?” It felt so weird asking for that. He says, “No.” I think my jaw might have dropped, even though I had already come to the conclusion that they were ‘fatless’. He explains that there just isn’t a Demand For It. Holy crap. What dimension have I entered that NOBODY wants yogurt with fat in it? Doesn’t anybody eat fat anymore? What about their little kids that need yogurt with fat in it? Anyway, I asked him if everyone had gone crazy and he gave me a look that implied that I was the crazy one and should be sad that I had been left out of the latest culinary craze and went back to his stocking his skim milk.
So, I managed to find one small individual sized tub thingy of yogurt (which is more packaging than the big tubs, plus is not recycleable unlike the big containers) with fat in it. (Already consumed along with a Revello in order to righten my own little world again.) Ahhhh…dairy fat. Yum.
So now that you have the back-story, here is the public service announcement part: Yogurt with fat in is actually okay for you. Now, having said this, I know there are people on fat reduced diets because of cholesterol issues and whatnot and may choose no fat yogurt because they have to. I’m talking to the rest of the ‘no fat’ lovers. The ones by choice because they think it automatically the right choice.
Here’s where I get technical (sorta). Yogurt with fat tends to have less sugar, making it a lower glycemic choice. (That means less sugar is being consumed and released into your body giving you a sugar high, followed by a crash which will make you more hungry. As well, the extra sugar is converted to fat.) The small amount of fat in ‘fat’ yogurt slows down the digestion of the yogurt, making you feel full for longer. (General rule: not hungry = eat less = gain less body fat.) Plus, the fat in the yogurt will assist in slowing down the release/conversion of the yogurt’s sugars making it lower glycemic. So, in moderation, fat is your friend. Plus, it tastes better and you don’t have to put aspartame chemicals in your body like with the ‘diet’ no fat crap.
So go demand some fat yogurt. It will make your hair healthier, which will save you money on hair products. Plus, it tastes better. And it is lower glycemic.
Bonus service announcement: Oh yeah, and don’t fall for all that probiotic crap. If you were buying ‘real’ yogurt in the first place, it would still have natural probiotics in it. And as for that fibre yogurt. Give me a break. If you have a ‘movement’ problem, try putting some bran in your yogurt. Keep your food real and it’ll take care of you.
Plus, it tastes better, so go and buy some damn yogurt with fat in it–if not for you, do it for me.
Internet Land
I’m back in the land of Internet again. I’ve got lots of ideas to blog about but right now I’ve got a canoe to go paddle…
Ally’s 101 Writing Tips
Ally Carter over on her blog, wrote out 101 writing tips. Whew! That must have been a lot of work. It was worth it though as the tips are excellent.
My top 5 favourites:
#68. Every chapter should change the story.
#53. All writers have a tendency to overuse certain phrases or words. (Always been a problem. I seem to like the word ‘look’. Go figure.)
#55. “Throw away lines” are lines of the book—especially of dialogue—that don’t really have a purpose except to round out your characters and scenes. (Honestly, I don’t really get this one.)
#44. Type 2 writer’s block is far more problematic. In these instances, you’re working hard, but for some reason the book is…wrong. The scenes feel forced. Just getting 100 words down is a struggle. (An interesting idea. Makes perfect sense.)
#37. Every character should contribute to the plot in some way, large or small, positive or negative.
If you are a writer, be sure to check them out, they are gold! Gold nuggets everywhere!
Refilling the Creative Juices
I think it is time to ease up and take a nice deep breath of summer air. I feel like I have this rigid time-line looming before me. I have to be a published, money earning author by X. It isn’t working very well. I mean, having a goal and a career plan is good. Very good.
But I need to ease up on myself a bit. I have time. I am learning. I haven’t stagnated. It’s just the fact that I have learned that I am, once again, further from my long-term goal than I originally thought I was, is killing me. And that is silly. This is supposed to be fun.
Of course there is a ton to learn. How many people actually sit down, write a first novel and have it published within two years? Not that many. They have piles of ‘learning’ manuscripts tucked in the rafters. They had to work at this and so do I. And I can do it.
But right now, I need a break. So, I’m going to pack up the car and my family and leave the in-laws behind and drive. And then I’m going to drive some more. And then some more. And I will learn. This CAN be part of my growth as a writer. It can. And it will. I will ruthlessly eavesdrop on farmers, miners, gas jockeys, campers from all over, executives, rich, poor, Easterners, Westerners and my family. I will come out a better understanding of characters. And then I will come home and I will write.
