Thursday, October 28, 2010

Bits and Pieces

Yesterday was my last farm visit and it was a water saturated one. That is a good thing - makes the colours vibrant. I took along the step-dot as she was taking a 'I'm too healthy to go to school today' break. As long as the kids keep up their marks they are allowed one of these a month. It is always wonderful to hang out with her - we yacked and ate at a nice restaurant in the valley and she handled the directions to get to the farm. I'm sorry not to have this opportunity to snoop around with camera and notebook into such interesting lives. Might have to figure out another opportunity to do so!




Today I have bits and pieces to attend to - people to call, some meetings both social and work, clients to see and at the end of it I'm attending a coffee house at the school the kids go to. It is a fund-raiser for the band's trip to New York and the step-dot is singing and playing a guitar.

I want to get all ready for Monday when I dive into NaNoWriMo - that means a clean desk - all the aids to my revision handy and a way to make sure I can do a couple of hours a day by clearing other obligations. I will be away for one weekend volunteering with an organization that works with cancer patients so I will need to stockpile my hours! I also need to clear the inner desk of all the to-do lists and nagging sticky notes that are cluttering up my brain pan. I must decide what is a priority and what is just a faint hope that keeps my energy engaged where it needn't be.

How do you prepare for a marathon writing or creative time?

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you for your kind words on my blog. I really appreciate it.

I love the photos you took. I can't wait to get to Canada in December.

As for NANO, I usually have to prepare more mentally than physically. I have to imagine that 1700 words is not that difficult to do (when I'm writing it's about 2 hours work) and just plan, plan, plan.

CD

Daisy Hickman said...

Good Morning, Jan! Thought it was time to stop by again, see what you've been up to ... quite a bit, as usual! :)

Preparing for creative time, how to, is a good question. I try to center myself within the piece of work at hand, and that is almost like meditation. It can be difficult when my mind is pulled in various directions, but I keep at it!

Hope you're doing well, best wishes for your marathon writing.

Daisy @ www.daisyhickman.com

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Good luck with organizing your inner desk and your outer one! :)

Anonymous said...

Jan - How fabulous that you allow the occasional "I'm too healthy for school.." days. We all need mental breaks, and I love it that you respect the fact that young people need them, too.

I truly wish you well as you plunge into your writing. When I am ready to do that, I start with a complete mental health rest day of my own, actually. Then I'm ready to dive in :-).

Talli Roland said...

As usual, I love your photos!

Hm. I'm more about preparing myself mentally than physically, really. I've found that sometimes I write better when I'm more tired, so I don't tend to worry so much now about getting enough sleep before a mammoth writing session. It's more about pacing myself and making sure I take proper breaks.

Patricia Stoltey said...

I'm taking all the clutter out of my office, and what I don't have time to deal with, I'm going to hide in the closet.

Luckily I have a big walk-in closet in my teeny tiny office.

Jemi Fraser said...

Organize? Only under threat of dismemberment. Well, maybe not quite that bad, but close. I always wing it! :)