This weekend was a long weekend for me and, with some important deadlines looming, I decided to hunker down for a writing weekend. I had planned on heading out to my securlarized convent, but the nights available weren't favourable and some surprise expenses last week made me reconsider.
Instead, I tried my first full writing weekend at home since Roomy and I moved to our new place. Our house is bigger, so avoiding each other should prove easy, but we didn't leave it to chance and we planned ahead.
Now, the reason for my going to the convent is that I can enjoy Story Head for the length of time I'm there. There are no expectations from anyone except the story. And remembering to go down for meals at the appropriate times. I love this immersion - it allows me to understand the story in depths that are sometimes more difficult to reach.
So, with my first worry being my "I'm trying to do something, ergo Roomy is the most interesting person in the world right now" syndrome, we planned out each other's space beforehand.
On Friday evening, we had a nice meal and then I started working. Saturday morning, Roomy went out to shop and just get out of my way during the ongoing immersion process. When she came back, we'd agreed the basement (which is lovely and has our big TV and computer, and her customizing materials) would be her domain. I would go from the desk in my room to the kitchen table. (Because our kitchen is beautiful and inspiring. It is!)
We did not have to eat meals together, though we'd purchased some quicker options so as not to break the flow of creativity.
There were some hiccups in the plan, of course. I didn't do my laundry as I would have before leaving for the weekend, and that reached critical levels on Sunday morning. Also on Sunday, since it was New York Toy Fair, Matty Collector (the Masters of the Universe folk) were doing some reveals, so I got distracted checking those out.
But progress was happily made regardless of all of that. I had given myself a deadline of Monday 5pm to stop working, on the condition that I'd finished my work. It was a sunny day and I sat in the kitchen, with my ancient tabby (Battlecat) hanging out in a sunbeam with me. I was immersed and I could feel it. Roomy's customizing was going well, and she pushed through that, too.
At 5pm exactly, I reached my goal, Roomy came up to start supper, and we had a lovely meal. And then, as a treat, she pulled out the third season of BBC's Sherlock, which she'd bought and hid, to reveal only IF I finished my work.
And that's why weekends at home will work for me. Because Roomy understands how important writing is for me. She's supportive and that makes all the difference for success. She appreciated it, too. She got a lot more done than she would have had I simply left for the weekend.
So, overall, this weekend I managed to write 20,000 words and edit most of it. I'm happy with this project and where it's headed, and I can't wait to dive in next! I'm already planning my next writing weekend.
Hope yours was a good one, too!
Instead, I tried my first full writing weekend at home since Roomy and I moved to our new place. Our house is bigger, so avoiding each other should prove easy, but we didn't leave it to chance and we planned ahead.
Now, the reason for my going to the convent is that I can enjoy Story Head for the length of time I'm there. There are no expectations from anyone except the story. And remembering to go down for meals at the appropriate times. I love this immersion - it allows me to understand the story in depths that are sometimes more difficult to reach.
So, with my first worry being my "I'm trying to do something, ergo Roomy is the most interesting person in the world right now" syndrome, we planned out each other's space beforehand.
On Friday evening, we had a nice meal and then I started working. Saturday morning, Roomy went out to shop and just get out of my way during the ongoing immersion process. When she came back, we'd agreed the basement (which is lovely and has our big TV and computer, and her customizing materials) would be her domain. I would go from the desk in my room to the kitchen table. (Because our kitchen is beautiful and inspiring. It is!)
We did not have to eat meals together, though we'd purchased some quicker options so as not to break the flow of creativity.
There were some hiccups in the plan, of course. I didn't do my laundry as I would have before leaving for the weekend, and that reached critical levels on Sunday morning. Also on Sunday, since it was New York Toy Fair, Matty Collector (the Masters of the Universe folk) were doing some reveals, so I got distracted checking those out.
But progress was happily made regardless of all of that. I had given myself a deadline of Monday 5pm to stop working, on the condition that I'd finished my work. It was a sunny day and I sat in the kitchen, with my ancient tabby (Battlecat) hanging out in a sunbeam with me. I was immersed and I could feel it. Roomy's customizing was going well, and she pushed through that, too.
At 5pm exactly, I reached my goal, Roomy came up to start supper, and we had a lovely meal. And then, as a treat, she pulled out the third season of BBC's Sherlock, which she'd bought and hid, to reveal only IF I finished my work.
And that's why weekends at home will work for me. Because Roomy understands how important writing is for me. She's supportive and that makes all the difference for success. She appreciated it, too. She got a lot more done than she would have had I simply left for the weekend.
So, overall, this weekend I managed to write 20,000 words and edit most of it. I'm happy with this project and where it's headed, and I can't wait to dive in next! I'm already planning my next writing weekend.
Hope yours was a good one, too!
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