Random Wednesday
Random Thing 1
saraharonson says to "Celebrate Everything!" Sarah knows what she's talking about, so when I finished my first draft of StT, I celebrated. The celebration included ordering some photos of the person who inspired this novel.
The photos arrived in Monday's mail and I turned at least momentarily into a squeegirl:
Eddie Izzard - Photos by Valkyrieinnyc
You'd better believe I have those photos nearby when I'm revising. They remind me that I have to be myself, believe in myself, believe in my work, and not give up--and while I'm at it, enjoy what I'm doing.
Random Thing 2
Tuesday's mail brought more goodies, this time from halseanderson, a signed ARC of Chains that I will treasure always for the encouragement of the inscription, and a T-shirt that I will wear when I need the reminder to
Random Thing 3
In an interview with a Toronto newspaper, actor Colin Firth talked about language, appearance, and making an effort with each. Two sentences in particular caught my attention: "I think the conventions that we operate in need to be skewed sometimes, or changed, in order for us to understand ourselves better. And I think that if you’re lazy with language, or you’re lazy with the way you dress, you may find you’re missing the chance to express a part of yourself that could be really productive, if that makes sense."
I think Colin Firth is onto something there. Mind you, I don't think we always need to dress elegantly, or that dress is necessarily connected to language, but I do believe that if we're consistently lazy about both, we are limiting ourselves.
Random Thing 4
Yesterday, for the first time since classes began, I felt like I had hit my stride. This is the first semester I've taught two classes and they are back to back, so it's been a bit of a challenge to move from one to the other, but yesterday I felt as if each class got what it deserved from me. Then after supper, in contrast to the previous two Tuesdays, I sat down and looked at the scene I had created on Monday, and went through it and revised. Sitting in the hot tub before bedtime (ah! - also, it's wood-fired), I also realized the one additional bit that the scene needed, so I'm ready to go today, as soon as I get this blog post up.
Random Thing 5
At some point yesterday I read sarazarr's most recent blog post, which covers James Franco talking about doing things he enjoys and putting the work in, and being open to criticism, and Caleb Followill of the Kings of Leon saying he asked himself what he was afraid of, and Brandi Carlile having fun.
About the time I read that, the random things that had happened in the past several days all came together to remind me hit me over the head:
This writing gig is like any (and every) other creative endeavor. If we want to make it we have to:
- have faith in ourself
- have faith in our work
- refuse to be scared (it serves NO purpose)
- break free from conventions when we need to
- accept that not everyone is going to like what we do
- persist despite all else
- let it take as long as it takes.
If you want to read a fascinating article about the connection between the unconscious and Eureka moments, go here.
I'm keepin' the faith. How about you?
P.S. Today in England, they're marking the anniversary of the turning of the tide that was the Battle of Britain. If you'd like to know more, the RAF museum has a podcast up here and here's a newspaper article on veteran's memories of the Battle of Britain.