Thursday 2 September 2010

CELEBRATING THE FIRST DAY OF TERM I'M HAVING NOTHING TO DO WITH :)

Today was the first day of the school term. However, it is the first since I was five years old that hasn’t involved going to a school or college. That is only a short span  if you think of time as a string and make the two ends meet leaving a deep loop, nearly long enough for skipping over, in the middle.

To celebrate this eventful day I:

  • lounged in the garden and fed the birds.
  • put a few washes on the slow way (forgot to check when they were finished)
  • prepared a chicken dish with potatoes, spinach, and a tomato and chilli style sauce, and put it on to cook, slowly, in the oven.
  • Did a little research
  • Took a slow meander around what is left of Berkhamstead castle
  • celebrated the novel idea that you can write a novel in a month by getting four thousand words of a M&B style book crafted (well I read the submission guidelines before I began)
  
Do you think, if I work out how to not edit while I’m writing, I could get it complete in twenty days? 

7 comments:

  1. Wow I love your idea of a slow day which leds to fast writing. I have a book on my shelf called: How to write fast (while writing well)
    A guide to speed, organization, concentration, problem-solving and creativity. By David Fryxell
    ISBN 0-89879-514-1

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  2. First draft in twenty days, yes.

    Then you pay for it on the second draft.

    Fast writing (for me at least), and skipping real-time editing, is paid for later by a steep fine in edit-debt.

    Either the first draft is slow and painful, and the second is fast and easy.

    Or the first draft is fast and easy, and teh second draft is slow and painful.

    Either way, you're paying for your sins. No such thing as "free" stories.

    ;)

    - Eric

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  3. Jamara
    Thanks for the book suggestion. I will go and look it out, we have a well stocked library )at the end of the main road ;)

    Hi Eric
    You may have a point. I'm going to try this out though, I'm feeling inspired :)

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  4. Good luck on the speed writing. I've never been able to do it. Like Eric, I pay for it later.

    What wonderful ways to relax, however: lounging in the garden, cooking, and especially meandering around the remains of a castle. I wish I had country and castles to meander through!! It sounds so English, and so lovely!!!
    Ann

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  5. Hi Ann
    :)
    It was a celebration of all things English and leisurely. It could only have been more so if I'd drunk tea and gardened at the same time ;)

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  6. Sounds lovely. I envy those who can speed write and edit word perfect.
    I am going for the Nano 50,000 word challenge in november. Foolish? I think so, but it is a challenge to keep me writing.

    Happy scribbling, enjoy your cuppa. ☺

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  7. It sounds like you really made the most of your day - love the one about putting the wash on a slow cycle and not checking when it was done! If I have no plans that is exactly what I do too. And roaming around the castle sounds wonderful.

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