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A little ease in the tide

Monday May 6 2013 by T. S. Bazelli

...though I'm not sure if it's permanent. The day job is still kicking my arse. I have found enough mental space to get back to writing again. It feels good. I feel almost like myself again.

This story, this WIP. I don't know about you, but no matter how much I've planned ahead of time, I only figure out what a story is really about by writing it. It always changes, takes unexpected directions. Sometimes I think that there are only things I can discover in the midst of the process, outline or not.

But every writer is different. And that's normal. And that's okay.

I had some other writing topics planned, but you know what, no.

Guilt serves no one. Comparing yourself with another writer only paves the way for resentment. However which way you write, is how you write. Slow or fast. It's normal. And it's fine. It's enough. Honour your process, whatever it may be, friends.

Filed Under: Journal, The Happy Writer 16 Comments

All work and no play

Monday Apr 22 2013 by T. S. Bazelli

Full stop. That's what happened with my writing lately. The dayjob is eating up my time and energy at the moment, and things are going to be busy until the first week of May or so. Never fear, I'll be back, though in the meantime, I shall be a very dull girl.

In the meantime, I share with you some stress baking...

Misshapened mini bread buns

Misshapen, mini bread loaves, and mutant green tea cookies...

The afore mentioned matcha green tea shortbread cookies

That's all for now. *ninja poofs into thin air*

Filed Under: Diversions 10 Comments

Creature Compendium: Clurichaun

Tuesday Apr 9 2013 by T. S. Bazelli

Here's one of the less harmful creatures we've seen in the compendium so far -- if you don't mind a little drunken rowdiness.

The Clurichaun / Clobhair / His Nibs

Clurichaun by ~swampy

The clurichaun is the Irish leprechaun's perpetually drunken cousin. At night they ride dogs and sheep, and generally cause trouble when not hidden away drinking in a wine cellar. The clurichaun is usually depicted wearing red, instead of green like the leprechaun, and always male.

Surly, solitary little creatures, a clurichuan will choose a home and appoint himself guardian of the wine cellar (or liquor cabinet). If you treat a one well, he will happily guard your liquor and home at all costs. To appease a clurichuan,  keep your liquor cabinet well stocked and thank him for his services otherwise he may cause mischief in the home, like spoiling the wine or spilling it in a tantrum.

Further reading:

Related creatures: leprechaun, faerie

Region of origin: Ireland

Would you want one of these little fellows in your home? I'm undecided.

Filed Under: Creature Compendium 5 Comments

The Need for Quiet

Thursday Apr 4 2013 by T. S. Bazelli
Shh

Shh by Caitlin Burke (CC)

When I say quiet, I don't mean the absence of sound, but the space to hear your thoughts, the stillness of the mind. I'm finding how important it is to cultivate that quiet.

I hit a wall in my writing last week. I was extremely busy. I still managed to carve out my regular writing time, but I couldn't get any words on the page. My joyful writing time slowly turned to painful writing time. Every word took its toll. It felt as if every moment my brain was filled up solving problems that had nothing to do with writing. There was no space for story.

And it was my fault.

I'd fallen into the old habit of making work for the sake of being busy. There's a certain thrill to checking things off a list, and feeling like a task is 'complete'. It feels like control. Novel's take so long that there's so little of that instant gratification.

And so, I had to tell myself NO. I would stop giving myself such a rigid daily task list, and leave some nights free. I would cut back on the internet, email, and TV - all noise.

I sat there for a while bewildered in the silence. I'm not good at being still, which is a bad habit. Even if I'm watching TV, my hands get twitchy. I need to be making something or doing something like folding laundry. I didn't know what to do. I felt guilty for sitting there, even though I was dead tired. But the next day, in the silence, I picked up a notebook and a pen and started throwing down words (not even sentences). Jotting down notes, and what if's, and then it started to snowball.

There was the story after all! I had a story! I was just too busy, and it was too noisy, to hear it.

This article also got me thinking:You can be busy or remarkable, but not both. I really do believe that at least for me, the silence is important. I need to cultivate it in order to be a happier person, and a better writer.

Sometimes the answer is as simple as silence.

Filed Under: The Happy Writer 8 Comments

Portland Snapshots

Tuesday Mar 26 2013 by T. S. Bazelli

Did a wee bit of traveling last month, and here are some snaps I took doing the touristy thing around Portland.

If there's one place you visit while you're there its Powell's books. I swear I dreamed of that bookstore before I ever went there. I had to ask El to get me out before I had a heart attack and passed out on the floor out of sheer amazement (This is after going completely nuts and grabbing a stack of books to buy). The photos don't do it justice. I didn't even see the entire place! Book city. A block full of books. New and old, all shelved together so you can get almost everything by every author. I could have spent days there without leaving. Bliss.

Portland

Portland

Random vintage stores of which there are a plethora.

Portland

Portland

Portland

And the crazy long lineup for Voodoo Donuts. We gave up. I don't love donuts enough to wait, but other people were more than willing.

Portland

I wouldn't recommend this as a health plan.

Portland

Pubs's tucked away in odd industrial corners.

Portland

 

It was a good but busy weekend. Not really too much of a holiday, but it was great to get away for just a short while. And thus ends this week's non-writerly update.

Filed Under: Diversions 10 Comments

Exorcism

Wednesday Mar 20 2013 by T. S. Bazelli

It's the first day of spring. From here, there will be no vernal equinox to observe, except for a slight dimming of the light at the end of a dark and dreary day. But the sun's always out behind the clouds, and even if I can't see the sunset, it's still the start of a new season.

And I'm at the start of something new too. I'm about 18k-words into the first draft of a new YA novel. The words are flying out of my fingers at record speed, but I'm still worried. Every novel kills a few worries, but the dead are replaced by new one's. Cut off one head, and two spring back in their place. And that is the battle that's what makes writing so difficult - not the words, but the battle of wills.

So here I throw my writing demons to the world, so that they may wither in the light of the brightening sun.

I worry...

That this is the most uninspired story in the history of stories. Utterly derivative. Nothing new.

That I will end up with a mess on my hands, a story that makes no sense and requires an ungodly amount of rewriting, or that after months of work, it will end up so broken that it's not worth fixing.

That the characters are too similar to ones I've written about in the past.

That I will succeed with this story and be branded as a YA author, when groups of teens terrify me to this day.

That I don't have the voice for adult fiction, which is what I prefer to write.

That no one wants to read what I like to write about.

That in twenty years I'll still be here, working, without any measurable success.

That I've hit a ceiling and I can't improve beyond this point. That I'm incapable of learning more.

That I don't have enough time to do everything that I want to do in this life. And that some of it won't happen because it's not something I can control.

And perhaps I should write my worries on a piece of paper, and set that alight, scatter the ashes to the wind. All I can do is write to the best of my ability and try to keep learning.

What are some of your writing demons? How do you slay them?

Filed Under: Journal 11 Comments

Tips For A Good Beta Read

Monday Mar 11 2013 by T. S. Bazelli

I'm guest posting today on the Clarion Blog! That makes it two weeks in a row I'm writing elsewhere. Not intentionally :) It just sort of worked out that way.

Red Pen

Red Pen by Jenny Kaczorowski (CC)

 

I've written up some basic tips for a better beta reading experience. Here's an excerpt:

It can be nerve wracking to get feedback on something you’ve spent weeks, or years, working on, but getting feedback on your writing can be invaluable. Here are some tips to help make the process easier:

1. Pick the right people for the story. Only ask people whose opinions you respect and who read the genre or subject matter that you’ve written about.

2. Have at least one cheerleader. Their job is to point out all the good things about the story. You’ve worked hard, created something new, and it’s good to celebrate that!

Click here to read the rest of the post.

Filed Under: Writing Discussion 10 Comments

On Music and Writing (And Embarrassing Writing Rituals)

Monday Mar 4 2013 by T. S. Bazelli

So I'm guest blogging over at The Alternative Typewriter! Harry asked me to talk about music and writing, so I've shared my embarrassing writing routine for the interwebs to read about.

dance

Dance by Dino Ahmad Ali (CC)

Here's an excerpt:

Music and I have a funny relationship when it comes to writing.

I didn’t think that the two were acquainted until I stopped listening to music completely (but that is a different story). The well of words slowly dried up, and finding them became a chore. Sitting at the desk left me restless.

Writing is such a bodiless occupation. It transports your mind elsewhere, consumes everything, and it’s easy to neglect the body in the process. I realized I use music to reconnect...

Click to read the full post here.

Do you listen to music when you write?

Filed Under: Writing Discussion 6 Comments

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