Hi all,
First, a reminder that Monika Davies and I have a drop-in writers’ group on the third Saturday of the month, so April 15, from 1 to 3 pm at the Sidney Library, and then a drink at Small Gods Brewing Co. afterwards to celebrate. We’d love to see you at either or both. The drop-in is a ($5 suggested) pay-what-you-wish kind of thing. More information here.
Next, apologies for filling your inbox on Easter, if you celebrate Easter. You see, one of my goals for last week was to write my newsletter, and since today is the last possible day to get my goal done, this is of course the day it’s happening.
I’ve been spending most of my writing time lately on revisions for the next not-yet-a-book. I’m working with 82 poems so far, though I expect that number to go down as time goes on. I’m about to highlight every verb and noun in every poem, and then for each verb and noun I will ask myself if that’s the best one I’ve got.
One thing Rhonda Douglas suggests when working on a not-yet-a-book, or anytime really, is a writing retreat. She says organized-by-someone-else ones are great, but if you don’t have one of those, she has a PDF guide for a DIY writing retreat that you can put together yourself. (Link is to a page where you join her mailing list to get the guide. She has good stuff on her mailing list.)
I did something I called a writing retreat last summer, you may remember, but since I was also on vacation with my mum at a retreat centre and there were lots of activities, I decided afterward it didn’t really count. I meant to do another one, just me, just writing, and see what that would be like. And then I didn’t. Until last weekend.
Rhonda says the first night of the retreat should be spent resting, reading, and filling up the well. If I hadn’t had a handy PDF guide that told me to rest the first night, I wouldn’t have, but it was so nice! I will definitely do that next time.
Then the first full day of the retreat went really well. I was all rested and happy from my evening of reading, and got lots of writing done. Rhonda says take lots of breaks, and again, I wouldn’t have if someone hadn’t told me to, but I’m so glad I did.
Then, the second day disaster struck. The renovation guys, whom we had been asking to come do some finishing touches on their renovations for more than a year, sent a guy on that Saturday. That Saturday, the one that was in the middle of the writing retreat, so carefully prepared for, so carefully planned, so perfectly timed. He came Saturday morning. Mum was visiting my aunt in Vancouver, so I had to talk to him. He was a very nice guy I’m sure, but he threw me off my rhythm. I managed to put my huge headphones on and write despite the not-actually-all-that-bad noise (but still!). He left while I was concentrating and I didn’t notice. Then I didn’t know if he was coming back or not, and lay on the couch with my phone waiting to see if he would come back. Then I continued to lie on the couch beating myself up internally for not writing until I went to bed.
The next day I felt sick – some kind of cold – and the weekend momentum was truly gone, so I gave it up as a bad job and didn’t write all day. Two out of four ain’t bad, I tell myself.
So, what have I learned?
I got lots of good writing done that Friday, and had a blast preparing for the retreat, so I will definitely do more of them! I think they’re a good tool to have in the toolbox, so to speak.
It’s important to plan ahead, and buy snacks and a new book in order to be appropriately prepared for the weekend.
Don’t get too involved in the perfect fantasy of what a perfect retreat you will have, because chances are it won’t be as perfect as you planned.
Beware Renovator Guy.
Have a “restart plan”, or a way to get back into the flow of the weekend if you get stuck. This would have been very helpful in my case. Perhaps a restart ritual of some kind. I’ll keep thinking on it.
Rest the first night and take breaks. You’ll get more done in the end and you’ll feel better instead of worse when you’re done the weekend, and like doing more writing. That’s the point, after all.
FROM THE SPIRAL NOTEBOOK
I wrote this little piece in a workshop with Deepam, a great AWA workshop leader. She gave us a beautiful picture as a prompt, which you can find here.
Murmuration
A woman is a murmuration of thoughts, ideas flying for the moment in the shape of a woman. The thoughts swell up behind her when she walks like one of those dresses stars wear on the red carpet, and now she’s thinking about The Slap on Oscars night, and more thoughts are flying around her head.
Those positive psychology guys on YouTube say you can change who you are by changing your thoughts, and they don’t know how right they are.
A woman can become a flock of starlings, a cirrus cloud, but she won’t. She likes her shape.
A woman is walking now by the grey ocean and the thoughts that make her are calling to the eagles, who fly alone. What must it be like to be a single thought on the wind? A woman does not know, being a murmuration: no one thought for very long, and never unaccompanied. A woman is a choir.
An eagle is a soloist, a mezzo-soprano, sustained and swooping over the waves. Except in spring, when two eagles, two thoughts collide and spiral, curling together toward the ground. If they survive, each of the single thoughts is stronger after, but eagles don’t flock. Each eagle thinks alone.
NOTES
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And thanks, as always, for reading.
Yours,
Kelsey
I'm sorry to hear you were unwell and hope you're feeling better.
I look forward to reading your June letters.
Cheers,
Derek
Hi Kelsey,
I was looking forward to the May "From a Spiral Notebook" installment. I hope it's coming still.
Cheers,
Derek R. Swallow