Fresh Notebooks and the Insecure Writer's Support Group

 First though...I missed last month's post for IWSG. I'm not mad at myself but rather mystified. I did have a lot going on - my newly discovered half-sister came out to stay and so did my regular full-sister - they had not met. It was kind of wild and great. My new sister had never been to Nova Scotia so we took her to Peggy's Cove and Lunenburg and for a million fish & chips or lobster rolls. We played a lot of cards, looked at lots of old photo albums and talked. So I forgot to write my post and truly didn't even think of it until about the middle of the month. Strange.

But now I'm back. I'm back to all my routines - back to my meditation practice, doing yoga daily and hopefully writing and painting a lot more. I lost my writing painting studio for two weeks so there was that too. 

Ahem...cough...ahem. Come to order please! It is time for the monthly meeting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group. (sign up here for all the fun)

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

I'm not going to address this month's question, which is what did you learn in school that messed up your writing or something like that. Wait, I'll go look - 

September 4 question - Since it's back to school time, let's talk English class. What's a writing rule you learned in school that messed you up as a writer?

The reason I'm not going to answer that perfectly acceptable question is that I cannot remember. I sort of think I just didn't pay any attention or let any rules bother me in any way. In university (where I went when I was forty) a professor told me that I had three comma splices in one paper and she usually would fail a paper with those errors but my writing was compelling and she gave me an A. Commas have been my downfall and I think I have some sort of comma aphasia as no matter how many times I look at how to use them correctly I forget. 

So I'm going to make up my own question. Here it is:

September 4 question - Since it's back to school time, let's talk fresh notebooks. What are you going to do to succeed this year in your school writing projects?

Hmm...I do have that wonderful fresh start feeling and I have several projects to work on. I think I will just make small doable goals and stick to them. I have decided to send our my newest ms Butter and Snow to three different agents or publishers a month. I know that isn't a lot but there is one I'm really after and I'm waiting until they are taking submissions again. I'm hoping that will be tomorrow as I think they just held up for the summer.  At any rate that is the first project. The second is to work on this play I started, the working title is Oh Well. My plan is to finish twenty-five pages by the end of September. A workable size for a two act play is about 50 pages so I could finish a rough draft by the end of October. Oh Well is inspired by one of my favourite plays, Waiting for Godot. I wanted to direct that play with an all women cast but apparently I can't until 2055 and I plan on being dead then so...  This is something writers need to consider - Beckett said his plays are to be played by the gender he specified in the plays. I believe he wouldn't do that today, but the trust taking care of his plays has no choice but to keep to it.  I have a producer and theatre in mind and I will work with the producer to kick up some start-up dough. All fun. Unlike novels playwriting quickly becomes such a collaborative art form. In that way it can be frustrating but also deeply fun. I am not starting another novel until one of the three I have that are completely finished sells. I just don't want to and I'm the boss of me (unlike when I was in English class and Mr. Bird was the boss of me). The third and ongoing project is writing an essay weekly for my substack Dispatches. I've written about 27 of them so far and I really like the format. I write whatever strikes my fancy and it keeps my writing muscles in some sort of shape. 

So there it is - my nice clean notebook. Will I sully it? Undoubtedly, but until I do I'm going to enjoy this delicious September feeling.

And what are you my dear writer pals up to, as the garden continues to ripen and produce in this part of the world, and the swimming is still lovely, and all those pesky kids are chained to their desks?