🐦⬛ Week 5, Day 2: Hi hi hi. 4000+ words yesterday and that thing I talked about in the meeting is happening. I have more time and so am stalling longer before sitting down! This proves to me that time isn't the issue. The habit of distraction is the issue. Ah-ha.
What distracts you?
Off to a killer writing day. I'm forging ahead no matter distraction today.
A few lines written by you guys that got me:
Tracy: Yes, you are a good listener..... now, listen even more.....even more....
Jill: scene by scene. Keep moving forward
Patricia: Too many times, I have provided my own example of what not to do. Then it's not just glaring, it laughs like a hyena
Jacqui: I'm pretty sure I'm going to blow past my 65k word goal before the challenge ends
I'm easily distracted by the phone, others in the house and a long to do list. I try to cram too much into my mornings, but most days I'm keeping up the 1-2 hour of writing solid.
🐦⬛ Week 5, Day 6: Over the winter, I took on the challenge to cut all inflammatory foods from my caffeine, sugar, dairy, gluten, nightshades, all corn products, seed oils. The result was ten years shaved off my life. I felt amazing. Pairing that with amazing water that fueled the cells and I was 45 again not 61.
What does this have to do with our challenge, right now? And writing? Hold steady. I'll get there in a sec.
The reason I did this diet change was that my hands were hurting to the point I could not type. For a writer, and a writing teacher, that's the kiss of death. But worse, even if I retired, I still would be up a creek because I kind of need my hands for a lot of tasks. So...I did it and again, I was healed.
Now why I'm sharing this with you. While in this intensive revision of The Home Tree, I've slid back. Sugar. Caffeine. Corn products. Gluten. Dairy. They've all slid back in and my hands hurt again. Duh? 🤦🏻♀️ What did I expect?
Why did I allow the little inflams back into my life? What am I thinking? It's appetite. It's stress. It's habit. It's being human.
What do you let back in your life, especially when trying to get something you feel is important done? Where to you slide out of good habits and into bad and justify?
It's not to make you feel bad but to help all of us remember the most important thing about creative writing at this level. It's not a sprint. It's a lifestyle. I know this. I do, but here I am again. I'm surfing through all your comments now, and cheering you on. Have a great writing day.
The only thing I've eliminated from my diet long-term, like decades now, is gluten. And that alone has been a big help. I'm stuck on strong, black tea, sweetened and with almond milk, in the mornings. Occasionally I've switched to green tea with nothing added, but it never lasts long. I have cut back on dairy. Oh, how I love cheese, but it takes a lot long to use it up now than it used to. It's such a struggle. I remember reading the book "Sugar Blues" by William Dufty back in 1976. I swore when I put that book down I'd never eat anything with sugar again. That probably lasted about a week. It's not a lack of information that makes me slide back. I think it's emotions I'm not quite aware of or that maybe I don't want to face that trigger something, and so I revert to what's comfortable, what's habitual and thereby avoid whatever it is that I'm not really even in tune with. Will power doesn't seem very powerful in the face of this defense mechanisms. ... My granddaughters are here, asking for breakfast, so I'll get back to this later.
One of my habits that I fall in and out of is managing my time. Putting off pleasure activities until work is done. For who? For what? I don't know. Last week, I played in the pool with my nephew until the adults made us get out to go home. A good reminder again to take time to play.
My fun today came from creating an unexpected scene. I read recently that if you are having fun as a writer then you are a beginner. That's me, just here to have some fun and write scenes. 🙋🏻♀️
🐦⬛🌟🐦⬛ Week 5, Day 4: Welcome back to another day of writing. I'm sitting down with tea and hours ahead to do the work. I cannot wait. But first, a shout out to Konrad, who is back with us and left a gem of a comment below. Check it out.
And second, a comment from Sara (also below), which brings up a something important to call out which is "discussion of current events."
Blackbird's Flight School and Studio maintain a deliberate focus on craft, story, and the timeless elements of human experience that transcend current events. This isn't because world events don't matter—they do. It's because our job as writers is to transform our responses to those events into art that will endure.
Here's the distinction: When we write from immediate political reaction, we often create work that ages poorly and serves the moment rather than the reader. When we write from the deeper human truths that political events reveal, we create literature.
Think of John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany. John, the narrator, is a character consumed by political fury who cannot transform his rage into wisdom making that book a tragedy.
Or Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities, who wrote about that revolution and turned a selfish, mean spirited man (Carton) into one who sacrifices himself for the highest good
Or the brilliant Colson Whitehead who channels historical injustice into remarkable, life changing story, not polemic.
This is our creative sanctuary and we need this boundary. Political discussions shift us from craft to commentary, from story to opinion. The energy changes. Focus fragments.
Your personal political engagement matters enormously—in your voting, your activism, your conversations with family and friends. But here, in our creative work, we dig deeper. We ask: What does this moment reveal about human nature? How do characters respond when their world shifts? What truths emerge from chaos?
This is how we serve both our art and our world most powerfully.
It is a constant act of resistance for me to stay out of current (political) events (not just now but for the past many years) with a son in prison. So much of what I'm sharing about his actual journey is intertwined with political bantering, policies, and leaders. I usually try to look at history to guide the conversation.
🐦⬛ Week 5, Day 1: Welcome into these last 14 days of the challenge. What a great time to circle back to original intentions and assess what got in your way of realizing them.
Here, another four chapters either worked on or created. 4400 words. This is not a shock. This is how the ending goes. We find our second wind and double down. It's that way in most things...momentum carries us.
To use a very poignant example, both my parents died when I was young. Both of them had what looked to be a full recovery near the end. "Miraculous," everyone said. We were infused with hope that they would be back with us and well again. Then they died.
This reversal made the loss that much more painful and shocking, to be sure, but also taught me a truth about life. We rally. We get sunburst energy at the last minute.
Why this matters is because in writing, we need to know the cycles in order to flow with them. Having written so many books at this point in my life, I am aware of this pattern and riding it when it comes. Now...are you aware and if yes, are you ready?
Original intention?
What got it your way?
Where is your unexpected burst and where is it taking you?
I am in the thick of 26 women, together painting our Muse at Musea center in Sonoma California. I am rising up to the challenge of following instructions and stepping outside of what I would 'normally' do, in the way I would usually paint. I am listening to the battle inside...... My Critic says, "Shut up and listen".....I say, "I do listen, I'm a good listener".......I hear a softer, kinder voice come in and say, "Yes, you are a good listener..... now, listen even more.....even more......." So, I'm following instructions and trusting the process. I feel the expansion in this, and the freedom, within a safe container crafted by years of experience, now being shared.
I have been writing in my journal daily. I had hoped I would get more writing done on my other projects but have hardly touched my computer. I camped along the Rogue river for a night on the way down to Davis, Ca. There I spent three great days with my daughter, Aubanie. Now, I'm two days in, with three days to go, in the Muse painting gathering. It feels good to peek back into this writing circle, and to be reminded that the challenge I signed up for is still here, treking along, with or without me. Another safe container, crafted from years of experience that I value, and is the reason I joined. I'm still here in the background, intending to get back in the running to make it to the finish line.
🐦⬛ Week 5, Day 5: Worked on about 4000 words yesterday. Up and down out of the pure anxiety of events. To do this is so...odd. I'm living my life but also the lives of these early 19th century Italians. Every one to include this lunatic woman named Enrica who's the most extroverted of the antagonistic forces...a small (rough) excerpt of an interaction with a police officer after she's been found out for poisoning of priests and cats:
An officer stands on her stoop. Old man in an olive green uniform. Black boots. Cap on his head. Thick glasses. Wide-bodied. Short legs. In a grizzled old hand peppered with age spots, a narrow pad of paper. She’d hoped for someone younger, more energetic, and fit, but beggars cannot be choosers.
“Finally,” she says, peers at herself reflected in his lenses. Not one, but two infuriated Enrica's. “What has taken you so long?”
“Signora Bruno,” he says, rocks back on his heels. “It is good to see you again…”
She shoves past the bumbling fool, hurries down the steps, and flaps at the garden plot. Razed and barren. The soil overturned. “They took it all,” she says. “Every last plant. Do you see? Do you see? Only a bit of leaf, petal and root left behind.” Hands fisted into her back, she turns. “What are you going to do about this?”
“Signora?” he says, his expression that of a dumb animal. "I’m quite sure I don’t understand you.”
“Idiot,” she says, and again waves at the ruined plot. “I’ve been vandalized.”
He shifts his glasses higher on his face but peers, not at the source of her great distress, but at her. “Signora? You don’t remember me? I am Sergeant Venini. We met back in ’91, I believe.”
A stutter in her mind, a shifting but then it’s dark again. What is the matter with this man?
“Thieves,” she says, voice rising into the trees around them. “Arrest them. Lock them up. Throw away the key.”
“I’m sorry, Signora. I have not come in response to a complaint. Did you file one? With the Incisa office?”
“File? What are you talking about? File?” she asks. “Make sense, man. I don’t need to file anything anywhere. I am telling you now.”
“Oh,” he says, perplexed. He looks at the pad in his hand and then at her again. “I was here to ask you a few questions but please, tell me more. Who are you troubled about?”
He speaks to her as if she is a child. Voice calm. Low.
“Them. Them,” she says...
If I'm doing my job, you're in this moment, close to Enrica and don't need a ton of explaining or set up. We'll see...
Now, more words to lay down today but first I'm off to the garden to remove the mini-toppers on the newest plants (that will be consumed by slugs if I don't cover).
Sending you all so many wishes for writerly success today! 🐦⬛
Week 5, Day 1: I guess this is like running a marathon. Which I've never wanted to do and wouldn't have the least idea how one paces oneself. But Jennifer says the trick is to keep showing up. She told me last week that is my superpower. Incredible compliment -- first half of my life, I couldn't finish anything except when the punishment seemed too severe. And even then I had to think about it. Now I do show up. I don't think about the finish line, I just think about what I learned yesterday and what I can do today. Becky says write a scene, just write a scene for Summer Session. Okay, I can do that. For one day, one hour, I will write nothing but a scene.
I told someone the other day that 'hard' is not a four letter word. That doing 'hard' can be so satisfying. Climbing a mountain and the view at the top makes all that hard worth it. Jennifer used it twice in this post: "Writing is hard". So, as if it wasn't already there, writing gets added to my list of things that are satisfyingly Hard!
Two weeks of visiting kids and grandkids. I figured that the writing would always be there but not the sound of excited grandkids wanting Papa ( that’s me!) to do this or that with them. But the circles of adults having conversations with the children out of mind but still in earshot inspired to write a scene about my two female child characters. They are playing inconspicuously in the courtyard while adults were engrossed in conversation about discoveries and prejudices. Children are learning every day - but not always what we think they should be learning.
Once again, distraction from writing leads to inspiration!
Yay! You're back, and you cannot have grandchildren. You're too young...no matter...you do and you're thinking like a writer. Well done. This is the perfect use of such gatherings. We're always writing, even when we're not. 📝
I wrote 2,200 words of the "hard stuff" while sitting at a little vegan cafe nibbling on a slice of quinoa flour devil's food cake sweetened with maple syrup. This is the writer's life I've dreamed of! Am feeling so much momentum now in week five and I'm pretty sure I'm going to blow past my 65k word goal before the challenge ends. It feels so good to be focused in on getting my story onto the page. Thank you Jennifer and the summer surge crew!
Love the challenge, even if i feel like a Border Collie chasing the mail truck. Writing was always a someday for me. The Blackbird connection takes it into the present, a slow creep for real reasons now, but a tether that grounds. The craft is so elusive and expansive. Too many times, i have provided my own example of what not to do. Then it's not just glaring, it laughs like a hyena with the same backbone crawling shimmer. I try again. I get a bit closer. Grab a principle, even if it is only through an example, and try to figure it all out as i'm reaching. It's not the work i mind. I love the work. It's my own disappointing results. I am too slow.
It can feel demoralizing when you're disappointed with your results. It's at those times when it helps to have a group like this cheer you on. I love how you keep going through it all. The way you describe your process is exquisite.
Week 5, Day 3: On Zoom Wednesday, Jennifer asked us all what we wanted. When she got to me, I said I wanted to swim in the ocean. And I meant it. I've been down here in this wonderful beach town, writing at least 2 hours every day and taking some wonderful walks, but I hadn't put on my bathing suit, walked down to the very soft sand, plopped my towel, my beach bag and myself down and just soaked up the rays. Today I did!! Went into the water and swam only about 5 minutes but that's okay. I've been building up arm strength since my two wrist surgeries and I will get stronger.
And I wrote 2 (TWO) scenes of about 600 words each. Tomorrow I'm going to read them over and force myself to get closer, even if it's obnoxious. As Jennifer says 'it's easy to cut stuff out so write, write, write!" I'm listening to a book by Ann Patchett who seems to be a master at scenes. She describes stuff I don't even see when I'm in a similar place. It's invigorating listening to her.
Bonne soirée toutes. Oh and I think it's a birthday in US. Happy Birthday USA, trying to find the joy in the joy of this kind of celebration. Did anyone read Annie Lamott's Op Ed in the Washington Post today? Lovely.
I'm so grateful, that on this day of fireworks, 🧨, you've nudged on an important boundary that I've established at the Studio but need to shine the light on here at Blackbird's Flight School, which is that we don't dive into current events and political commentary here. There are many, many other outlets for these conversations but Blackbird and Flight School are not the place. I'll detail those reasons more fully tomorrow with so many thanks to you for shaking this bird out of the tree!
Week Five, Day 4: Today I had to push myself. I didn't sleep well. I got out of bed tired and moved so slowly, I ended going to back to bed for another hour. I took my long walk and that revived me but by the time I got home, it was almost 4:30pm. I really, really, really wanted to talk myself out of writing. I told myself I could take Saturday off but I had given myself a simple (HA!) task to get closer in my scenes and I'd listened to Ann Patchett on my walk. I finished that book and started The Bell Jar which I've never read. I think that that book is the closest of any book I've read to how I'm trying to write. There aren't that many other people in it (I've only listened to three chapters). I thought the fact that not many people populate my essays was problematic. But it doesn't seem to be with Plath. So when I got home, I kind of set a timer in my head: 'reread one of your scenes, add to it where needed and then if you feel like stopping, stop.' Two hours later, I'd added, deleted, changed words and written 600 more to continue the essay.
I am patting myself on the back. I just showed up, not wanting to but once I got started, it didn't matter whether I wanted to or not.
Victory: "Two hours later, I'd added, deleted, changed words and written 600 more to continue the essay." This is the very essence of perseverance. 🏊🏻♀️💪🏼
Week 5,Day 6: quick check-in. Yesterday my body rebelled. So tired, I didn't write, didn't walk, just read, cleaned my rented apartment down here in Saint Jean de Luz, and read some more. Today, I felt so much better and I've watched a Bones video, watched The Cider House Rules making notes, and written and revised for 3 hours. I even got in an hour walk. I think I will be back to some normal energy tomorrow. But I feel so good about all the Blackbird, Flight School, and my writing I got done today.
My original intention was to finish this draft by September. The more I learn the more I need to go back to the beginning and start again. I’m going to keep moving forward knowing there will be another draft coming. So many layers to storytelling.
I won't be able to attend the Zoom today due to another meeting scheduled at the same time for my editing day-job, a meeting I can't skip. I'm still in, though, facing some challenges (aren't we all) but endeavoring to continue through things that usually get me to kind of lose track of myself and put creative things dear to my heart on hold.
Time for week six! See you at this link: https://jenniferlauck.substack.com/p/week-six-weve-seen-you-from-every/comments
🐦⬛ Week 5, Day 2: Hi hi hi. 4000+ words yesterday and that thing I talked about in the meeting is happening. I have more time and so am stalling longer before sitting down! This proves to me that time isn't the issue. The habit of distraction is the issue. Ah-ha.
What distracts you?
Off to a killer writing day. I'm forging ahead no matter distraction today.
A few lines written by you guys that got me:
Tracy: Yes, you are a good listener..... now, listen even more.....even more....
Jill: scene by scene. Keep moving forward
Patricia: Too many times, I have provided my own example of what not to do. Then it's not just glaring, it laughs like a hyena
Jacqui: I'm pretty sure I'm going to blow past my 65k word goal before the challenge ends
I'm easily distracted by the phone, others in the house and a long to do list. I try to cram too much into my mornings, but most days I'm keeping up the 1-2 hour of writing solid.
🐦⬛ Week 5, Day 6: Over the winter, I took on the challenge to cut all inflammatory foods from my caffeine, sugar, dairy, gluten, nightshades, all corn products, seed oils. The result was ten years shaved off my life. I felt amazing. Pairing that with amazing water that fueled the cells and I was 45 again not 61.
What does this have to do with our challenge, right now? And writing? Hold steady. I'll get there in a sec.
The reason I did this diet change was that my hands were hurting to the point I could not type. For a writer, and a writing teacher, that's the kiss of death. But worse, even if I retired, I still would be up a creek because I kind of need my hands for a lot of tasks. So...I did it and again, I was healed.
Now why I'm sharing this with you. While in this intensive revision of The Home Tree, I've slid back. Sugar. Caffeine. Corn products. Gluten. Dairy. They've all slid back in and my hands hurt again. Duh? 🤦🏻♀️ What did I expect?
Why did I allow the little inflams back into my life? What am I thinking? It's appetite. It's stress. It's habit. It's being human.
What do you let back in your life, especially when trying to get something you feel is important done? Where to you slide out of good habits and into bad and justify?
It's not to make you feel bad but to help all of us remember the most important thing about creative writing at this level. It's not a sprint. It's a lifestyle. I know this. I do, but here I am again. I'm surfing through all your comments now, and cheering you on. Have a great writing day.
The only thing I've eliminated from my diet long-term, like decades now, is gluten. And that alone has been a big help. I'm stuck on strong, black tea, sweetened and with almond milk, in the mornings. Occasionally I've switched to green tea with nothing added, but it never lasts long. I have cut back on dairy. Oh, how I love cheese, but it takes a lot long to use it up now than it used to. It's such a struggle. I remember reading the book "Sugar Blues" by William Dufty back in 1976. I swore when I put that book down I'd never eat anything with sugar again. That probably lasted about a week. It's not a lack of information that makes me slide back. I think it's emotions I'm not quite aware of or that maybe I don't want to face that trigger something, and so I revert to what's comfortable, what's habitual and thereby avoid whatever it is that I'm not really even in tune with. Will power doesn't seem very powerful in the face of this defense mechanisms. ... My granddaughters are here, asking for breakfast, so I'll get back to this later.
Great share, Laura. The almond milk is good but check if it has a seed oil in it (most do)...that's a killer
One of my habits that I fall in and out of is managing my time. Putting off pleasure activities until work is done. For who? For what? I don't know. Last week, I played in the pool with my nephew until the adults made us get out to go home. A good reminder again to take time to play.
My fun today came from creating an unexpected scene. I read recently that if you are having fun as a writer then you are a beginner. That's me, just here to have some fun and write scenes. 🙋🏻♀️
And, after the play...did you have more energy for your story? What new things showed up?
Yes for sure. Several ideas came up so I wrote down some notes. Also added some objects into the story.
🐦⬛🌟🐦⬛ Week 5, Day 4: Welcome back to another day of writing. I'm sitting down with tea and hours ahead to do the work. I cannot wait. But first, a shout out to Konrad, who is back with us and left a gem of a comment below. Check it out.
And second, a comment from Sara (also below), which brings up a something important to call out which is "discussion of current events."
Blackbird's Flight School and Studio maintain a deliberate focus on craft, story, and the timeless elements of human experience that transcend current events. This isn't because world events don't matter—they do. It's because our job as writers is to transform our responses to those events into art that will endure.
Here's the distinction: When we write from immediate political reaction, we often create work that ages poorly and serves the moment rather than the reader. When we write from the deeper human truths that political events reveal, we create literature.
Think of John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany. John, the narrator, is a character consumed by political fury who cannot transform his rage into wisdom making that book a tragedy.
Or Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities, who wrote about that revolution and turned a selfish, mean spirited man (Carton) into one who sacrifices himself for the highest good
Or the brilliant Colson Whitehead who channels historical injustice into remarkable, life changing story, not polemic.
This is our creative sanctuary and we need this boundary. Political discussions shift us from craft to commentary, from story to opinion. The energy changes. Focus fragments.
Your personal political engagement matters enormously—in your voting, your activism, your conversations with family and friends. But here, in our creative work, we dig deeper. We ask: What does this moment reveal about human nature? How do characters respond when their world shifts? What truths emerge from chaos?
This is how we serve both our art and our world most powerfully.
Keep writing, keep growing, keep pushing toward that finish line. 🐦⬛🌟🐦⬛
It is a constant act of resistance for me to stay out of current (political) events (not just now but for the past many years) with a son in prison. So much of what I'm sharing about his actual journey is intertwined with political bantering, policies, and leaders. I usually try to look at history to guide the conversation.
Great line: Constant act of resistance. Yes.
🐦⬛ Week 5, Day 1: Welcome into these last 14 days of the challenge. What a great time to circle back to original intentions and assess what got in your way of realizing them.
Here, another four chapters either worked on or created. 4400 words. This is not a shock. This is how the ending goes. We find our second wind and double down. It's that way in most things...momentum carries us.
To use a very poignant example, both my parents died when I was young. Both of them had what looked to be a full recovery near the end. "Miraculous," everyone said. We were infused with hope that they would be back with us and well again. Then they died.
This reversal made the loss that much more painful and shocking, to be sure, but also taught me a truth about life. We rally. We get sunburst energy at the last minute.
Why this matters is because in writing, we need to know the cycles in order to flow with them. Having written so many books at this point in my life, I am aware of this pattern and riding it when it comes. Now...are you aware and if yes, are you ready?
Original intention?
What got it your way?
Where is your unexpected burst and where is it taking you?
Welcome to week 5
Week 5, Day 1 & 2.......
I am in the thick of 26 women, together painting our Muse at Musea center in Sonoma California. I am rising up to the challenge of following instructions and stepping outside of what I would 'normally' do, in the way I would usually paint. I am listening to the battle inside...... My Critic says, "Shut up and listen".....I say, "I do listen, I'm a good listener".......I hear a softer, kinder voice come in and say, "Yes, you are a good listener..... now, listen even more.....even more......." So, I'm following instructions and trusting the process. I feel the expansion in this, and the freedom, within a safe container crafted by years of experience, now being shared.
I have been writing in my journal daily. I had hoped I would get more writing done on my other projects but have hardly touched my computer. I camped along the Rogue river for a night on the way down to Davis, Ca. There I spent three great days with my daughter, Aubanie. Now, I'm two days in, with three days to go, in the Muse painting gathering. It feels good to peek back into this writing circle, and to be reminded that the challenge I signed up for is still here, treking along, with or without me. Another safe container, crafted from years of experience that I value, and is the reason I joined. I'm still here in the background, intending to get back in the running to make it to the finish line.
LOVE: Yes, you are a good listener..... now, listen even more.....even more....
That gathering sounds incredible!
🐦⬛ Week 5, Day 5: Worked on about 4000 words yesterday. Up and down out of the pure anxiety of events. To do this is so...odd. I'm living my life but also the lives of these early 19th century Italians. Every one to include this lunatic woman named Enrica who's the most extroverted of the antagonistic forces...a small (rough) excerpt of an interaction with a police officer after she's been found out for poisoning of priests and cats:
An officer stands on her stoop. Old man in an olive green uniform. Black boots. Cap on his head. Thick glasses. Wide-bodied. Short legs. In a grizzled old hand peppered with age spots, a narrow pad of paper. She’d hoped for someone younger, more energetic, and fit, but beggars cannot be choosers.
“Finally,” she says, peers at herself reflected in his lenses. Not one, but two infuriated Enrica's. “What has taken you so long?”
“Signora Bruno,” he says, rocks back on his heels. “It is good to see you again…”
She shoves past the bumbling fool, hurries down the steps, and flaps at the garden plot. Razed and barren. The soil overturned. “They took it all,” she says. “Every last plant. Do you see? Do you see? Only a bit of leaf, petal and root left behind.” Hands fisted into her back, she turns. “What are you going to do about this?”
“Signora?” he says, his expression that of a dumb animal. "I’m quite sure I don’t understand you.”
“Idiot,” she says, and again waves at the ruined plot. “I’ve been vandalized.”
He shifts his glasses higher on his face but peers, not at the source of her great distress, but at her. “Signora? You don’t remember me? I am Sergeant Venini. We met back in ’91, I believe.”
A stutter in her mind, a shifting but then it’s dark again. What is the matter with this man?
“Thieves,” she says, voice rising into the trees around them. “Arrest them. Lock them up. Throw away the key.”
“I’m sorry, Signora. I have not come in response to a complaint. Did you file one? With the Incisa office?”
“File? What are you talking about? File?” she asks. “Make sense, man. I don’t need to file anything anywhere. I am telling you now.”
“Oh,” he says, perplexed. He looks at the pad in his hand and then at her again. “I was here to ask you a few questions but please, tell me more. Who are you troubled about?”
He speaks to her as if she is a child. Voice calm. Low.
“Them. Them,” she says...
If I'm doing my job, you're in this moment, close to Enrica and don't need a ton of explaining or set up. We'll see...
Now, more words to lay down today but first I'm off to the garden to remove the mini-toppers on the newest plants (that will be consumed by slugs if I don't cover).
Sending you all so many wishes for writerly success today! 🐦⬛
yep, I was in it. I'm impressed with 4k+ word counts consistently.
Mine is a slow go on word count but I'm dedicated to two hours a day. Keep moving forward.
Stay at two hours. Seriously. It's sane! I'm in the crazy end part and kind of losing my mind here. : )
Week 5, Day 1: I guess this is like running a marathon. Which I've never wanted to do and wouldn't have the least idea how one paces oneself. But Jennifer says the trick is to keep showing up. She told me last week that is my superpower. Incredible compliment -- first half of my life, I couldn't finish anything except when the punishment seemed too severe. And even then I had to think about it. Now I do show up. I don't think about the finish line, I just think about what I learned yesterday and what I can do today. Becky says write a scene, just write a scene for Summer Session. Okay, I can do that. For one day, one hour, I will write nothing but a scene.
I told someone the other day that 'hard' is not a four letter word. That doing 'hard' can be so satisfying. Climbing a mountain and the view at the top makes all that hard worth it. Jennifer used it twice in this post: "Writing is hard". So, as if it wasn't already there, writing gets added to my list of things that are satisfyingly Hard!
Totally agree. It's the hardest thing in the world...like love. 💕
Yes, I agree..."satisfyingly hard."
Two weeks of visiting kids and grandkids. I figured that the writing would always be there but not the sound of excited grandkids wanting Papa ( that’s me!) to do this or that with them. But the circles of adults having conversations with the children out of mind but still in earshot inspired to write a scene about my two female child characters. They are playing inconspicuously in the courtyard while adults were engrossed in conversation about discoveries and prejudices. Children are learning every day - but not always what we think they should be learning.
Once again, distraction from writing leads to inspiration!
Yay! You're back, and you cannot have grandchildren. You're too young...no matter...you do and you're thinking like a writer. Well done. This is the perfect use of such gatherings. We're always writing, even when we're not. 📝
I wrote 2,200 words of the "hard stuff" while sitting at a little vegan cafe nibbling on a slice of quinoa flour devil's food cake sweetened with maple syrup. This is the writer's life I've dreamed of! Am feeling so much momentum now in week five and I'm pretty sure I'm going to blow past my 65k word goal before the challenge ends. It feels so good to be focused in on getting my story onto the page. Thank you Jennifer and the summer surge crew!
"This is the writer's life I've dreamed of!" makes me smile wide. Hurrah for you!
BRAVO YOU: I'm pretty sure I'm going to blow past my 65k word goal before the challenge ends🌟
I'm with Sara. Day by day, scene by scene. Keep moving forward.
Jennifer, thank you for the encouragement and leading us.
🌟!! "scene by scene. Keep moving forward"
Love the challenge, even if i feel like a Border Collie chasing the mail truck. Writing was always a someday for me. The Blackbird connection takes it into the present, a slow creep for real reasons now, but a tether that grounds. The craft is so elusive and expansive. Too many times, i have provided my own example of what not to do. Then it's not just glaring, it laughs like a hyena with the same backbone crawling shimmer. I try again. I get a bit closer. Grab a principle, even if it is only through an example, and try to figure it all out as i'm reaching. It's not the work i mind. I love the work. It's my own disappointing results. I am too slow.
"...even if i feel like a Border Collie chasing the mail truck." 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Pitch perfect humor and timing and imagery. EVERY TIME!
Yes that line made me smile!
Me too!
And this: Too many times, i have provided my own example of what not to do. Then it's not just glaring, it laughs like a hyena🌟
It can feel demoralizing when you're disappointed with your results. It's at those times when it helps to have a group like this cheer you on. I love how you keep going through it all. The way you describe your process is exquisite.
Week 5, Day 3: On Zoom Wednesday, Jennifer asked us all what we wanted. When she got to me, I said I wanted to swim in the ocean. And I meant it. I've been down here in this wonderful beach town, writing at least 2 hours every day and taking some wonderful walks, but I hadn't put on my bathing suit, walked down to the very soft sand, plopped my towel, my beach bag and myself down and just soaked up the rays. Today I did!! Went into the water and swam only about 5 minutes but that's okay. I've been building up arm strength since my two wrist surgeries and I will get stronger.
And I wrote 2 (TWO) scenes of about 600 words each. Tomorrow I'm going to read them over and force myself to get closer, even if it's obnoxious. As Jennifer says 'it's easy to cut stuff out so write, write, write!" I'm listening to a book by Ann Patchett who seems to be a master at scenes. She describes stuff I don't even see when I'm in a similar place. It's invigorating listening to her.
Bonne soirée toutes. Oh and I think it's a birthday in US. Happy Birthday USA, trying to find the joy in the joy of this kind of celebration. Did anyone read Annie Lamott's Op Ed in the Washington Post today? Lovely.
I'm so grateful, that on this day of fireworks, 🧨, you've nudged on an important boundary that I've established at the Studio but need to shine the light on here at Blackbird's Flight School, which is that we don't dive into current events and political commentary here. There are many, many other outlets for these conversations but Blackbird and Flight School are not the place. I'll detail those reasons more fully tomorrow with so many thanks to you for shaking this bird out of the tree!
Great work, Sara. BRRRRR!
Week Five, Day 4: Today I had to push myself. I didn't sleep well. I got out of bed tired and moved so slowly, I ended going to back to bed for another hour. I took my long walk and that revived me but by the time I got home, it was almost 4:30pm. I really, really, really wanted to talk myself out of writing. I told myself I could take Saturday off but I had given myself a simple (HA!) task to get closer in my scenes and I'd listened to Ann Patchett on my walk. I finished that book and started The Bell Jar which I've never read. I think that that book is the closest of any book I've read to how I'm trying to write. There aren't that many other people in it (I've only listened to three chapters). I thought the fact that not many people populate my essays was problematic. But it doesn't seem to be with Plath. So when I got home, I kind of set a timer in my head: 'reread one of your scenes, add to it where needed and then if you feel like stopping, stop.' Two hours later, I'd added, deleted, changed words and written 600 more to continue the essay.
I am patting myself on the back. I just showed up, not wanting to but once I got started, it didn't matter whether I wanted to or not.
Bisous toutes!
Victory: "Two hours later, I'd added, deleted, changed words and written 600 more to continue the essay." This is the very essence of perseverance. 🏊🏻♀️💪🏼
What a great idea to listen to scenes in your style while you walk!
Week 5,Day 6: quick check-in. Yesterday my body rebelled. So tired, I didn't write, didn't walk, just read, cleaned my rented apartment down here in Saint Jean de Luz, and read some more. Today, I felt so much better and I've watched a Bones video, watched The Cider House Rules making notes, and written and revised for 3 hours. I even got in an hour walk. I think I will be back to some normal energy tomorrow. But I feel so good about all the Blackbird, Flight School, and my writing I got done today.
🌟🌟🌟 Well done all the way around. Take a victory lap!
My original intention was to finish this draft by September. The more I learn the more I need to go back to the beginning and start again. I’m going to keep moving forward knowing there will be another draft coming. So many layers to storytelling.
Yes, you will need to go back but get to the end first. Your ending holds all the clues about that beginning. Trust me on this.
I won't be able to attend the Zoom today due to another meeting scheduled at the same time for my editing day-job, a meeting I can't skip. I'm still in, though, facing some challenges (aren't we all) but endeavoring to continue through things that usually get me to kind of lose track of myself and put creative things dear to my heart on hold.
You were missed, for sure. I'll get that video out next week! Love this line: "...endeavoring to continue." That is what I call, the line of the day.