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Wednesday, May 19, 2010

WriTueWedNoMo

The grin on my face is no lie--away from the distractions of everyday life, I'm writing!

As Kathy of Well Placed Words mentioned in her latest post, a couple of weeks ago she and I headed up north for a two day writing marathon.
 Here's Kathy on the way home, snow in May!

 How did it go? Fantastic for me, I achieved my goal of a rough draft of an outline for my new w.i.p.Both Kathy and I focused and accomplished a ton in a couple of days. What have I gotten done since then? Um...not so much. Where we were, there was little to do except write, walk the dog, write, eat lunch, write...you get the idea. No Internet service, no e-mail, no snail mail, most people knew were gone, so few calls. No TV, either. No laundry, no dinner to cook, no house to clean. No teaching exercise classes, my other job. Gone were the excuses and distractions of everyday life.
Kathy's dog, who didn't do any writing (that we know of).

 And now all those lovely "reasons" for my not sitting down hour after hour have returned--with the problem of being behind in all of them. It was only two days for heaven's sake! My mom always said, "If you're gone for two days, might as well be gone for two weeks" and she was right. With prep work and catching up, it takes time, energy and focus. And oh, how I miss my writing marathon time. But I can't take two days out of every week to drive north to McCall to stay in Kathy's friend's cabin to write.

So, what to do? One thing I've determined is to "Do it first" as Margie Lawson so wisely says. I haven't yet--I returned to a couple of major distractions, but I'm setting my intention here.

One glorious distraction: Puck, my new puppy who arrives here soon, at 4 weeks.

What else? Lists always help me--unless I can't find the list! I'll admit I'm still scrambling for other ways to be focused and effective, whether it's writing my new w.i.p. or shopping my current novel or paper training Puck. Readers, ideas? Please?

20 comments:

Enid Wilson said...

Good on you to finish a draft of the novel! And your Puck looks very cute.

Steamy Darcy

Aubrie said...

Your new puppy looks so cute! I'm glad you got a lot done! I'll have to try a writer's retreat myself someday :)

Dave King said...

The perennial problem, how to stay focussed among so m any distractions.
At least you found a temporary solution. Well done you.

Carol Kilgore said...

Oh how can I have writing ideas when I see Puck. He's adorable :)

What breed is he, or is he a mix? His little face looks a little like a Rottweiler.

Conda Douglas said...

Enid--thanks, and Puck is puck-a-licious!

Conda Douglas said...

Aubrie--I meant it when I said I wish I could have a retreat every week--I'd get so much writing done!

Conda Douglas said...

Dave--thanks--and perhaps it's possible to have "mini-mini" marathons--that's what I'm aiming for!

Conda Douglas said...

Carol--he's a rat terrier!

Swubird said...

Conda:

In answer to your final questions: No, no, no! There is simply no other idea than to write voraciously. Like I recently heard on a show about the gladiators, embrace the pain. That's about the best advice I ever heard.

Good luck and remember . .

Happy trails.

Conda Douglas said...

You're right, Swu! Write on!

Helen Ginger said...

I think Kathy's dog is writing. She's in that plotting stage.

I love writing retreats. You can focus totally on writing and nothing else.

Helen
Straight From Hel

Jennifer Shirk said...

Aww...your puppy is soooo cute!

Glad you got some much accomplished!

Conda Douglas said...

Helen--yes! You recognized that look!

Conda Douglas said...

Jennifer--I can't wait to get him this weekend and thanks.

Carol Kilgore said...

Conda - I've never seen a rat terrier puppy before - only adult dogs. I had no idea they were such chubby little darlings. He makes me smile :)

Kathy McIntosh said...

Great photo of Mattie! And Helen's right, she is always plotting something. (the dog; I can't speak for Helen!)
We have to figure out mini retreats so we can write voraciously and still follow those happy trails. I'm on one right now; in Bend, OR. On the way home. Sans ideas on how to stay on that productive path we began to chart.

Conda Douglas said...

Carol--biggest pup of the litter--can't you hear him saying, "Dude"?! More pictures soon, he arrives Thursday.

Conda Douglas said...

Kathy--Puck's imminent arrival has pushed much else out of mind! And Mattie's quite the dog, and all dog!

Lynda Lehmann said...

Just keep going and lovin' it! When I agitate over which and when and how much, I use up energy that could be part of the creative process, for any of my endeavors. The cogitation ends up being a waste. I just try to keep my priorities in order, that's all.

Puck is very cute and will surely offer a ton of chuckles--and new distractions! But it will be such fun!

Conda Douglas said...

Lynda--First things first as my mom always said--great advice now too!

And Puck is a fun distraction!