Writer

Writing 24 (out of 66) scenes complete – structural/continuity revision

This week has been the Worcestershire Literary Festival, so I’ve been focusing less on writing and more on making the most out of the available events. I have done some writing though – the scene I’m working on was a bit of a mess and I’ve done a fair amount of work on the structure and focus of the scene, but it’s still broken.

Reading “Do the Work” by Steven Pressfield

I downloaded a free version of this some time ago and have just got around to reading it. It’s a productivity/motivational book around the issues of “resistance” and how it prevents us getting the job done.

Fighter

I’ve worked hard with my kettlebell training this week and am really starting to see the benefits.

Geek

Playing Tiny Tower for iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad – it’s free and it’s really very good! It’s very similar to the classic Sim Tower game only less focused on elevator management and more on keeping all your tower residents happy. Very addictive!

This afternoon, I abandoned working on my own book and held a 700 year old book in my hands instead.

The event was part of the Worcester Literary Festival and was an amazing experience. Despite its historical importance, the collection’s existence doesn’t seem to be well-known as it’s tucked away and viewing is usually only available by special appointment. However, if you ever get the opportunity to see it, I can highly recommend a visit.

The tour group met just outside the gift shop. I arrived a little early, so stepped into the courtyard for a while and snapped some pictures on my iphone. I knew that once inside the library, photography (even without flash) was prohibited in order to protect the books.

Once everyone had arrived, our guide showed a group of us through the security door and skipped ahead of us up a steep spiral staircase. We knew when we had eventually caught up with him as the lovely crisp, musty smell of preserved books was there to greet us at the top.

It was an amazing collection. We were talked through and able to handle (while wearing protective cotton gloves) a wide range of documents, manuscripts, early printed books and even Elgar’s baton! I’d expected most of the catalogue to be religious books and there were many fine examples of bibles, monastic chronicles and liturgy. However, there was also some wonderful examples of medical tomes, maps, travel guides, astronomy books and even some guides on how to deal with witches. I really began to appreciate how much work had gone into each book – not just the written word, but the illuminations and paintings, meticulous lettering and intricate bindings were things of beauty in their own right.

There is something rather awesome about standing in a room with so much history. I also began to appreciate the concept of the weight of words – some of those bound manuscripts were extremely heavy! I wonder what words will be poured over by historians 700 years from now and how well modern books will be preserved?

I spent a lovely Saturday afternoon walking through the Worcester Woods and discussing haiku as part of the Worcester Literary Festival.

There is a lot more to haiku than I previously realised. We also learned about other forms such as senryu (similar form to haiku but ‘human nonsense’, eg political, rather than having a seasonal note) and tanka – a longer form with five lines.

It’s amazing how much depth and meaning can be fit into just a few short lines of poetry. Mine, however, are mostly frivolous. Here’s what I came up with yesterday:

arrow pointing right
follow the path and the rules
that way lies safety

Dulux dog trots by
panting with tongue lolling out
no paint on his paws

buttercup yellow
a little patch of sunshine
do you like butter?

tanka or haiku?
write what needs to be written
give the poem breath

a haiku workshop
in beautiful surroundings
festival success

It’s been both a busy and very unproductive week with most of the focus being on the new guinea pigs. So this should be a very short report!

Writer

Writing 24 (out of 66) scenes complete – structural/continuity revision

This scene will probably take me a while. Currently it’s a filler scene with a completely unrealistic timeline. Getting through it one sentence at a time, but it’s a bit of a slog.

Reading “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson

A young adult fiction book I picked up on a whim some time ago then completely forgot to read. I discovered it again hidden on my shelves while looking for something else.

Fighter

Training was good this week. Very heavy cardio and needed an inhaler break for the first time in months (could also be connected to mild allergy to the new guinea pigs, though). Enjoyed it though and it was a good feeling to really push myself.

I’m ashamed to say, though, that I have slacked off exercise for the rest of the week and lost momentum as a result.

Geek

The guinea pigs are settling well although Biscuit is still terrified of me. I think she even growled at me this morning – I picked her up and her whole body was vibrating, like a sort of angry purr. Bramble however, waits for me to pick her up most times now and her eye looks a lot better. I think I’m going to have to find some calm time without children around to tempt them with treats and try and get them to trust me a little more.

I have found that I’ve been getting a little lung tightness this week though – manageable but upsetting. I know I have allergy issues with some furry creatures (most notably cats) but had hoped to be okay with the piggies. Reading up on it, it might not be an allergy to the animals but could be bedding related. I’ve been tested for hay/grass allergy, so I know it’s not that. The other culprit could be the wood-shavings, apparently.

So, I’m going to try and ditch those and go the fleece-lining route – the idea is that you have a layer of old towels, then a layer of fleece material (washed three times so its ready to absorb moisture) on top. The fleece wicks away the moisture from the wee and the towel soaks it up. You can then use a little handheld vaccuum to get rid of the poo each day and stick the fleece and towels in the washing machine as required. No wood-shavings flicked everywhere, kinder on the piggies feet and bottoms and hopefully kinder on my lungs.

Fingers crossed.

One of a whole host of wonderful Twaggies – an online crowdsourced comic where a group of illustrators take the funny tweets they’ve seen and turn them into a gorgeous piece of artwork.

Writer

Writing 24 (out of 66) scenes complete – structural/continuity revision

Finally made some progress! Impressive as I only had two available writing days. The break definitely did me good. Looking forward to working on a new scene next week.

Reading “Mindfulness In Plain English” by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

Recommended on a recent Back to Work show. It’s a really good and clearly written introductory book on mindfulness meditation. I downloaded the PDF for free from UrbanDharma.org and imported it into iBooks. I’ve been wanted to reintroduce meditation back into my life, if only in a small way – it has been the push that I’ve needed.

Fighter

Really enjoying training at the moment. In class we’ve been taking a back to basics approach with different strikes which has coincided with my own resolve to work on basics. Lots of opportunities for repetition and getting it right.

I’ve been able to keep home training going a little better this week, but it’s noticeable that I slacked off last week. It’s been hard going.

Geek

My research obsession this week has been about guinea pigs. It’s been triggered by a forum post looking to rehome some and I stopped to seriously consider whether it would be a good idea for me to offer.

I had a rabbit when I was a kid and I like the idea of our sons having a small furry animal in their lives. Piggies do seem a good choice in term of temperament and sociability. Me being me, though, I’m having to research it to the nth degree to make sure that I would be giving any creature we take on the best possible home, plus husband is not terribly keen. Either way, I’m getting a lot of joy from the research process for its own sake!

In other news, going to see Jonathan Coulton‘s concert in Manchester tonight. Squeee!

I seem to have accidentally created a new family game.

We’d been discussing the origin of words (thank you Alistair from Storywonk) and the kids have been fascinated. Unfortunately, I’m both lazy and usually away from a computer to look up the exact etymology so mostly we do what any writer would do if they are not sure of the facts – invent our own and resolve to look it up later.

Our best so far has been Orangutan (once I’d won the heated argument enthusiastic debate whether they were apes or monkeys). It seemed easy enough. Orang – that’s bound to be from the same root as orange and they are very orange. So that must mean utan is translated as “big hairy thing” in someone’s language, surely?

Later, I looked it up on Wikipedia. To our intense disappointment, we were miles off.

The word “orangutan” comes from the Malay words “orang” (man) and “(h)utan” (forest); hence, “man of the forest”.

I think our version was better.

This weekend, we took our caravan up to Kingsbury Water Park – our favourite campsite situated on the edges of a beautiful country park with lakes, visitor’s centre and (to the kids’ delight) a narrow gauge railway that takes in a large circuit of the park.

We took a couple of trips out, but the highlight of the trip for me was the luxury of reading. The weather was glorious, easily the best we’ve seen here this year, so the kids were out playing for most of the day, leaving us back at the caravan with books and beer – within the space of three days I’d read two books and made good headway on a third. More reading than I managed for the whole of last month!

Oh, and a fair few Angry Birds levels were completed too. Can’t imagine how that happened.

Writer

Writing 23 (out of 66) scenes complete – structural/continuity revision

No progress as the kids are off for the half term holidays.

Reading “House Rules” by Jodi Picoult

I few years back, I went through a phase of reading everything Jodi Picoult had ever written and overdosed on them somewhat. I do love her books, particularly her characterisation but find the endings rather hurried (as if she thinks “crap, I’ve got to wrap this up in just two chapters” and panics) and they got a bit samey after a while.

So, I’ve picked this one up from the library with some trepidation but I have to say I’m enjoying the early chapters and already feel fiercely protective of the main characters.

Fighter

I’ve missed a couple of days exercise due to half term, but have tried to stay generally active instead. I did make training this week, which I’m pleased about. Life got in the way a lot in May and my attendance had been a little shabby as a result.

Kettlebell routines are going well. Even after only a couple of weeks on the beginner routines, I’m already seeing strength gain and able to increase reps. Unfortunately, muscle soreness has also increased!

Starting to practise 100 straight punches a day in the mirror to try and get form right. Ideally, I’d like to get some pads or a punch bag (and clear out the garage to keep it in) for training at home, but as I am still on an unnecessary spending freeze that will have to wait for a while.

Geek

I’ve picked up Sims Medieval again. It’s still not going to light the world on fire, but as a casual game it’s quite fun when you get further into it.

I’ve reset Plants vs Zombies on the iPad. It’s such a great game even on repeat plays.

Mostly, though, I’m killing time on casual games until Skyrim and Mass Effect 3 are released. It’s going to be a long wait.

This week’s Back to Work podcast looked at how the word “priority” gets used in productivity circles versus what it actually means. For example, if you didn’t do anything towards a “priority” this week, does making it bigger, redder, bolder on your to do list actually do a damn thing?

It got me thinking about my own priorities in relation to the progress I’m making (or lack thereof) and the general frustration I’m feeling as a result. For the purposes of this post, I’m going to conveniently ignore the point Merlin Mann made that if you have more than one or two priorities, then maybe someone should be quoting Inigo Montoya at you: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means”.

So, if you’d asked me before listening to the show what I thought my top five priorities were, I would have said (listed in order of importance):

1) Immediate family
2) Writing
3) Exercise/Training
4) Relaxation/Downtime/General Geekery
5) Keeping the household running smoothly (cooking, cleaning, chores)

However, looking at that list with fresh eyes, I can already see that doesn’t reflect how I invest my time and focus, and which things get sacrificed most easily when something else comes up. A true list representing what I actually do would be:

1) Keeping the household running smoothly (cooking, cleaning, chores)
2) Exercise/Training
3) Relaxation/Downtime/General Geekery
4) Immediate family
5) Writing

It’s interesting that the thing I like the least (household chores), has the most guilt attached and time spent on it and therefore is more “important”. Whereas the thing I will freely profess as my life goal (writing) is regularly the first thing to get bumped when time is tight. “Relaxation” while time is spent on it isn’t really “fun” it’s wasted procrastination time or mindless surfing to fill the evening when I haven’t got the energy to do anything else. My kids and husband may get time but not necessarily the attention they deserve.

It’s an interesting exercise to see just how much I lie to myself by looking at the gap between my perceived priorities and how I actually behave.