Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can - there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.
— Sarah Caldwell
Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence.
— Abigail Adams
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.
— Albert Einstein
I suspect this will be a rather long post because not only will I be talking about my last day at the retreat, I have actual words to report. :-)
So, Sunday the rain actually let up for a bit, and since I was a much earlier riser than my cabin mates, I took a leisurely walk along the lake shore, hoping to get some pictures of the sunrise. The sunrise wasn’t that great, but I got some interesting silhouette shots and I really enjoyed the walk.
For our last session together, we discussed ways to write every day. That seems to be an issue with a lot of writers, especially those working full time jobs or taking care of family, or both. Some of the suggestions included: using a pen and paper (easy to take with you so you can fit in a few words whenever you get a chance), block out a section of time every day (and make your family understand you are not to be disturbed), try just five minutes at a time (you’d be surprised what you can accomplish in just five minutes).
This was followed by our Freefalling, in which we were to focus on a sound during our meditation, and then to step into the sound. We were to start with the phrase, “When I hear this…” My sound was water:
When I hear this… I think of walks in the woods beside a lake. I think of my childhood, driving up to Owen Sound, standing on the precipice of Inglis Falls, or watching the fish jump at the mill dam. I think of waterfalls, big and small, the feel of the spray on my face, the smell of the moisture laden air. The rocks are slippery, don’t get too close. Voices are raised to be heard over the cascade of water. Make your way to the lake where waves are lapping at the shore, crashing if the day is stormy. I think of rain, pitter-pattering on the roof or pounding down during a storm. The fresh, earthy smell of the woods after the rain has gone. The soggy feel of the earth under my feet. The drip, drip, drip of the water returning to the earth.
And for our final lesson in creativity, we turned to a page in our work books that had seven boxes on it with seven different labels: Expressions, Characters, Events, Food, Words, Colours, and Clothing. And under each of these seven labels were seven cues: the Food box included lemon, chili, bread, chocolate, red meat, coffee, pie and the Colour box included yellow, blue, white, grey, green, tangerine, and red. You get the idea.
So then we had fun picking random cues from different boxes and combining them. For instance, taking a cue from Character and one from Events you might end up with a ‘teacher’ at a ‘fire.’ Or a cue from Colour and one from Expression might give you ‘green’ and ‘look before you leap.’ Again, you get the idea.
It was both fun and interesting. You could use just a couple of boxes, or several boxes to create your own prompt. The possibilities were endless. And the best part is, you can totally create your own boxes with your own labels and cues, tailored to your specific needs, like characters, settings, conflicts, obstacles, scenes, escalating conflict… And to fill your boxes the possibilities are endless.
If I run into trouble with my NaNo, I will totally be turning to the boxes to get my creative juices going. But so far I’ve been doing good on my own. I downloaded a whole pile of prompts from Writer’s Digest and I’ve only had to go back and find a new prompt once. And of course because I’m doing flash fiction instead of a novel, it’s no big deal if your idea doesn’t work out and you have to start fresh.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Wordage Report
Woot! I have actual words to report!
New Words:
Flash anthology – 14,031
Blog Posts – 943+594+427+273=2,237
Total = 16,268 words
Not only am I ahead of the game with the words on my NaNo anthology, I managed to get all my blog posts done too.
Editing:
No editing yet, it’s not allowed during NaNo LOL, but I’m kind of looking forward to editing my anthology when it’s done. The first story needs to be expanded, while the second one needs to be condensed a bit.
What I’m Reading:
I haven’t taken much time for reading. I think I’ve only progressed by a chapter or two in The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman. I started reading a book I picked up at the retreat called Lichen. I’m not quite sure whether it’s an anthology or a paperback magazine, but it’s full of stories and poems from a variety of authors. I’m finding it a very interesting read, very thought provoking.
AND I’ve been showing my Kindle a little love lately. I read Inferno, by V. Vaughn, book one of the Smokey Falls Wolves series. I just love me a good werewolf story and this didn’t disappoint. I don’t know the name of the one I’m reading now, but it’s about bear shifters and it’s got me really curious about how the hero is going to fix things with his love interest, because he screwed up pretty good. LOL
Goals
Seeing as my only goal for the week was to stay on track for NaNo, I’d say I aced it. I was hoping for 1667 words per story, maybe a few more, maybe a few less, and I cannot believe every one of them has been over 2,000 words. Go me!
For the most part, the stories never end up being what I think they’ll be, which I guess is a good thing. I think doing flash stories instead of a novel has taken a lot of pressure off of NaNo. You only have to think of one story at a time, and who cares whether it’s any good or not. They’re going to need work when I’m done, of course, but I think they’re pretty much all keepers so far.
This Week’s Goals
1. Keep up the good work on NaNo.
2. Keep up the good work on the blog posts.
3. Try to get out and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts.
Here’s to a new week ahead.
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