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Garrison
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Jan 03, 2014 11:20PM

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It took me 8 years to write my first novel. I kept stalling and every time I picked it back up it seemed lifeless, not worth the reading, let alone the writing. So how did I manage to finish it? Was it a process of improving as a writer? No, it was more a process of learning to let go of my preconceived plot. Once I gave the characters, who were so real in head, free rein to tell their own story it was finished in 6 months. Now my husband gets home to comments like, "Hey, I've just found out Chloe has a sister!"
Dandelion tea with real cream. There was a tea shop in Austin I loved. This place had a wooden bar set up with tall swivel stools, and little tea pots of various flavors of tea like Margarita Tea, Woman's Health Tea, Chocolate Mint Tea, etc. There my friends and I would sit and sample teas. Just beyond the bar was a shelf of silver tins full of more kinds of tea. Confections were sold there, too. Oh, Austin. This place was just down the street from our place of work, so easy to get to. :) Ah...

In sports, a “late game player” is someone who starts off slowly and then gets progressively active near the end in hopes of pulling off a big win. This term can also be applied to readers and writers as well. In the case of readers, it’s when somebody reads only one or two chapters near the beginning, but starts to read more chapters and at a quicker pace once they get toward the end of the book. As for writers, they write only one chapter and then wait a while for the next writing session, but when that session comes, the author writes more and more until the novel is over. I consider myself one of these “late game players” both in the reading and writing department. Is there anybody else here who is considers him or herself a “late game player”? No, I don’t know why I keep putting quotations around it either. Probably because I’m the only one who does this.



It was a very cold day today in the north of England and so we decided to take the kids to the beach to watch the huge breakers along the shore. It was too cold and windy to get out so we had a 'chip butty' picnic in the car. As we were watching the view, two quite distinguished looking gentlemen
in quite traditional Muslim style attire walked on to the foreshore. The wind was tugging at their clothing and they must have been freezing but they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Although they were so far away and we couldn't hear their discussion we could tell by their silent ballet that they were trying to take each others photo to the back drop of the crashing waves. The man with the camera motioned to his friend to go 'back, back, back towards the sea, raise his arms, higher like this...' then the sea came in and they both did that little dance we all do when we're trying to keep our feet out of the water for as long as possible whilst dancing onto dry land. They kept repeating this process taking turns with the camera, the kids were howling with laughter. Then they must have decided they'd get a better shot if they crouched down by the incoming tide and of course we could see the huge waves coming from a way off and making them leap up so they didn't get their trouser seats wet. It was fantastic. Then to top the whole lot off, they asked a lady passing by walking her dog, to take their photos' together. She had a big coat with her fur lined hood completely covering her face. She held the camera in one hand and the dog in the other and did the sign language for them to go 'back a bit, a bit closer together, hold it there' and then a huge gust of wind nearly knocked them all off their feet and the lady's trousers fell right down to her knees the wind filling them like a huge balloon! We were laughing so much we could barely breathe. When she'd sorted her trousers out and returned the camera they went off in opposite directions along the beach probably never to meet again. It was just brilliant.
Hope this little story makes you smile.
A Snowy Neighborhood Sigh - Haibun
Gesso and coffee
lissome snowflake persiflage
on the window sill
my sweet stiff necked Siamese
Gesso and coffee
lissome snowflake persiflage
on the window sill
my sweet stiff necked Siamese
Pablo Neruda
igneous mane, nephrite eyes
forays the rhythm and blues
of winter's impermanence.
igneous mane, nephrite eyes
forays the rhythm and blues
of winter's impermanence.
Nicky wrote: "I didn't know where to post this, so I hope it's ok here but I thought it might make you all smile. You just couldn't write this no one would believe it was true!!
It was a very cold day today in..."
Nice to hear of a beach in Winter.
It was a very cold day today in..."
Nice to hear of a beach in Winter.


Thanks for the heads up, M! I know now what to do if ever I come across the first edition of that book.
Lol! Hi Martin, welcome to this thread :) how are you?
Hi Martin! Out of curiosity, is that a Homestuck symbol on the shirt of the person in your profile picture?

why? do you read homestuck?
Ermahgawd!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!
My friend was nuts over it and now I'm reading it. I'm not very far in but I'm loving it already. I really want to get current before the gigapause ends. :D :D :D
OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE THERE'S SOMEONE ELSE HERE WHO LOVES IT!!!!!
My friend was nuts over it and now I'm reading it. I'm not very far in but I'm loving it already. I really want to get current before the gigapause ends. :D :D :D
OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE THERE'S SOMEONE ELSE HERE WHO LOVES IT!!!!!
Angie wrote: "I feel as if I have walked into a thread speaking a foreign language..."
XD Good reason to start reading Homestuck then...
XD Good reason to start reading Homestuck then...

;DDD I JUST FINNISHED 2 WEEKS AGO, HOW FAR ARE U?

Don't get too excited, I'm still in the bit wayyyyyyy at the start where Dave's in his house with a puppet in the blender... I'm yet to meet Bro. Apparently he's cool. :D
Five and diner time. Give away your words and buy some back for cheap. Five finger discounts on president's day. Here are my five ouncers for your Monday. Catch a five spot near the pine trees. I won't give u the fish eye. Just fish or cut bait; use those fish hooks god gave Ye. And check out the fish tail on the roaring stud mobile. Hopefully I won't see u in the fish tank. I have bigger fish to fry. I will close my fish trap now. This is my five square. My fizzling fix up for the flake in back.

I am at the point where I wonder if writing really is my gift or if I'm beating a dead horse. Forgive my neediness. I need either encouragement, or perhaps more helpful would be your honest assessment of my future as a poet/writer. Any opinions either positive or negative would be appreciated, and please don't worry about whether you would be the one to keep me from writing ever again. Writing is something I will always do, I just need to decide whether to pursue it as a true vocation or not, or am I just wasting my time?
Gee, don't you just love self-pity parties? Even I'm bored with it and I started it. Yecch.

LOL! As usual, your mock of self mockery involuntarily brought joy to my heart and laughter to my belly and tongue. Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck. RotFL!
Hopefully my inappropriate response to your circumloquatious verbalization is enough to assuage your angst, ameliorate your anxiety and/or otherwise be an emotional analgesic.
As I am sure you already know, since writing is something you will always do, then relax into the pain of it and write. If you are stuck in verbal hell, there is nothing to do but embrace your disgraced state and spew your syllabifications rather than stew in your verbals. LOL!


http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter5.html


Well, a good news story is that I had to go to ER yesterday with severe abdominal stress, and the young resident who fixed me was excellent, young and very pretty! LOL! Sorry. Best I can do today.


I'm seeing that movie tomorrow with my girlfriend. :)



One time I had planned my whole future on a particular interview and failed, I was devastated, I thought my whole world had come to an end. Now I thank God that I didn't get the place because if I had taken up that place I would never have met my best friend, my great mates, my husband and I wouldn't have my two beautiful kids.
So maybe this rejection could be the start of something amazing for you too, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you!

A pot of gold lies just around the corner, NEVER stop believing in yourself.
Books mentioned in this topic
Falling Worlds (other topics)Worlds with Ruby (other topics)
Worlds with Ruby (other topics)
Falling Worlds (other topics)
Your God Is Too Small (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Elias Canetti (other topics)Morris Berman (other topics)
Noam Chomsky (other topics)
Jane Jacobs (other topics)
Marshall Sahlins (other topics)
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