Posted by Intagrate Lite
Posted by Intagrate Lite
Posted by Intagrate Lite
Since starting a new part time job I have been writing less. The will to write is there but every time I sat down I got distracted or distracted myself. You must know the lovely naughty cats of Youtube or the deep dive into a thing you just have to research. What if you will need it for a next book? While in the mean time you are not finishing your first.
Last November I started working at a little restaurant within a department store. At the moment they are renovating the store and the restaurant and the store is closed for six weeks. For three of those there will be no work for us at our location. Since I had enough hours I opted to take those three weeks off. Giving me time to write and set a goal to finish the first revision of my book.
So here I am at a library writing a post for my blog instead of working on revising my book. Productive? I think so. Just not towards my book.
I hope to get back into some sort of a rhythm before I have to start working again. Finding a way to be productive and less distracted on the days that I have time to write.
My husband is very good at pointing out what distracts me. I don’t really want to hear it but he is right. My phone! The darn thing is the biggest distraction. When I got my phone a few years ago one of the first things I downloaded was the forest app. You can set a time you want to focus and be present as they say. You set the time and it kind of locks your phone. The incentive to not use your phone is in this time you will grow a shrub, a tree, some grass or other plant sculpture. When you succeed this tree or shrub will be placed in your forest. If you don’t you kind of kill it and you have a withered stick in your forest. It is fun so why don’t I use it?
Another thing that distracts me working at home are the chores. Yes besides writing I have a household to run. It is just the two of us but it is in the back of my mind most of the time. Laundry that needs to be done or the mess that was left after the guys were working on our house. Dusting, hoovering, dishes, cooking, groceries and more.
That is why I decided this morning to join my husband to his work and go to the library. I got up earlier than normal and threw in a load of laundry, did the dishes, cleaned the counter and got the dry laundry of the clotheshorse and threw it on the bed so I can put it away this evening and hang the washed clothes.
This is my second hour at the library and so far I have revised half a page, listened to two girls talking loudly about financial dividend and how this works when you have your own company. I am not sure if one is the tutor of the other or if they are in the same class.
Oh and I have written this blog. I got six more hours to go before my husband is done working. Six more hours where I don’t worry about the household and can grow three beautiful trees for my forest. But lets start with one.
Yes, today is my birthday. I’ve turned 36 and am very happy about it. I might occasionally say that I am old or that I am a granny to a teen when I have no clue what they are talking about. But I just don’t care. I made it to 36 and I am looking forward to this new year.
Also I am very distracted today. I planned on revising chapter 23 of my work in progress YA book. But all the sweet messages are to hard to leave until after the zoom write in I have every morning with four lovely writer and illustrator friends.
But it is my birthday so I do what I want… and a little of the things I still need to do as a housewife. Either way I wrote a blog post? That is writing. And I have responded to the birthday wishes. That is writing too.
I am going to enjoy today and bake a cake and sit outside to watch the bees and butterflies flutter by from flower to flower. That sounds like a perfect birthday to me. <3
In June some of the libraries organise “The month of writing”. For the children they have afternoons where they’ll read them stories, Coderdojo where they teach older children different programming languages and many other writing related events.
Last friday I joined a writing workshop in Muiden by Martine Winkel. A group of six writers eager to learn how to use your creativity and tell a compelling story.
The introduction of yourself was the first assignment. Pick one thing you brought with you, describe it to the others and use it to tell something about you.
As the youngest of the group they might not have been too surprised when I picked my phone.
It is my connection to the world, my friends and it holds all the music I could ever listen to. But it is also one of my biggest distractions, waste of time and best procrastination partner.
And even though it often keeps me from what I planned to do it also helps my writing and creativity.
I love playing these interactive stories where you read a book as if you are the main character and get to “choose” her path. In the end you know it follows the original book so the outcome will be mostly the same. Still it taught me about plot, continuation and character arcs.
After we all read our introductions she placed postcards on the table and we had to pick one that spoke to us.
Mine was Pat and Mat (buurman en buurman), two neighbours and best friends, who try and improve their houses together. They stood in front of a green screen holding a cooker.
She wanted us to start describing the picture and feel/see where that would lead our writing too. I ended up writing about my dreams and wishes for my future kitchen. That I feel like that is my domain. The place where I take care of my home, my husband and what I believe is the heart of a home.
Time flew by and to be honest what is two and a half hour? In the end she got out the story cubes for some quick rounds of making up stories/fairy tales together by completing 6 sentences:
1. Once upon a time…
2. Every day…
3. Untill one day…
4. Because of that…
5. Because of that…
6. Untill eventually…
And they lived happily ever after
This was a lot of fun as I love fairy tales. Crazy ogres destroying villages just to get to a magical beer mug or injured people on the street miraculously healed.
All in all it was a wonderful morning. I had a lot of fun with the assignments. It did pull me out of my comfort zone as I had to write about myself where as normally I write fiction. The tasks brought out more that I’d expect a seemingly simple assignment would do. It brought depth and emotions into the story and that made the story a compelling one we can all relate to.
At the moment I live in a city close to my husbands work. It has given us more time together and it has reduced his commute. His commute was 1 to 1,5 hours depending on traffic and made him a grumpy man.
Which means I, a village girl in heart and soul, has to live in a city. I am very lucky that we have a small patio behind our house.
My husband and his brothers paved it for me last year. This year it was up to me what do do with the space.
The village I’ve lived for 25 year was very small and there was a lot of nature around. My parents had a big vegetable garden en there was a small field where my dad kept sheep. When I’d look out of the kitchen window I’d see fields with cows, hares running around and farmers tending to their crops.
So it was only natural for me to see how I can bring plants into our space. Youtube was a great help. Online I found a lady who grew vegetables on her 8m2 balcony (Her 82m2). Her videos and advice helped me a lot to figure out what I want to try for my space.
So this year I looked online for free wooden pallets. I needed Johannes his muscles to pick them up and together we turned them into raised garden beds. One pallet we hung on the wall and added balcony planters for my herbs.
It will be trial and error and a lot of phone calls to my dad to ask him for advice. He after all is an expert at growing vegetables. Funny how as a young child you want to help. I even had my own space in the garden where I grew my own veggies. As a teen I lost my interest in growing vegetables and eating them. Till now where I am trying to remember all the things my dad tried to teach me when I was a child.
