The wrap up
So here we are. The last post. Firstly, and most importantly, let me introduce you to Tom Taylor. Tom will be your Writer in Residence throughout the month of June. A big congratulations is also due to Tom, because his graphic novel The Deep: Here Be Dragons has just won an Aurealis Award. Which is huge, people. HUGE.
I read an interview with Tom (which I can’t find now, but he’ll probably set you straight anyway) where he was talking about his inspiration for The Deep, and one of the things he mentioned was exploring (in this case, the sea floor). I’m so there. Also, I’m a Star Wars groupie, and I really, really wanted to post one of his stunning illustrations of Darth Maul – my fingers were itching! – but again, hopefully he’ll share some of them during the course of the month.
Secondly, I’ll be checking back in to update this post at 2pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (how official of me) with the winner of the GIVEAWAY. At the moment it’s a one horse race.
And lastly, I've been thinking about how to sign off. In the end I decided to keep things real, and tell you about what’s happening for me right now, and what I want for the rest of the year.
I’m facing the blank page. I’m trying to choose between four different ideas. I’m pretty sure I’ll eventually end up tackling all of them, but right now it’s about which one to do first. I haven’t been in this situation for a while, maybe for six years or so, and I love the feeling of blue sky possibility.
But! I also know that no matter which one I pick, I’ll probably only stay enamoured with it for about 15,000 words, at which point things will get rough, and I’ll start wishing I’d decided to do one of the other things instead. NEVER do I get more ideas for a project than when it's not the thing I'm actually working on!
My work routine has been all over the place in the last three or four years (kids, anyone?). At the moment I’m writing in two shifts – a day shift of about three hours, and a night shift. The day shift is always, ALWAYS crappy. I stuff around and don’t really achieve anything and spend most of my time answering emails and doing other admin stuff that feels like writing but is not actually writing.
I’ve found that writing away from my desk improves things – like in cafes or libraries. So I’m going to stick with this and hopefully get a bit more disciplined about doing it regularly. It works because I can’t access the internet. The net is the numero uno way that I procrastinate. (I also get my husband to block my internet access.)
But I am going to allow myself some ‘good procrastination’ time. For me, this is stuff like watching music videos (I don’t know why but they always get me thinking), looking at art and photography, and checking in to read Poem of the Day.
If I have a wish, it’s that at some point I’ll find the essence of whatever it is that I’m working on and commit to it, without worrying about how it will be received, or where it’s going to belong. I can honestly say I’ve done this for every one of my books so far. They are what they are meant to be.
The only bummer is that you can’t control when that happens. I wish it would happen sooner, but for me it's always an eleventh hour thing. So in the meantime, maybe a better thing to wish for is that I don’t spend so much time feeling like a failure, or panicking that it won’t happen, but instead I will just turn up, shut up, and do the work.
Hmm.
How about you guys? What’s the rest of the year hold for you? Got any creative goals?
THANK YOU so much for reading this month, and for commenting – I really appreciate it!
Kirsty :)
PS Don’t forget I’ll be checking back in at 2 pm to announce the winner.
