I had a few hours to write this morning. Lon ( aka best draft reader in all the land) sent feedback on my most recent short story this morning, and I’d planned to settle in with his comments and work on that story. Couldn’t do it, though. Couldn’t focus. That damn novel keeps trying to pull me in and it’s all I want to work on. I’m not caving. Nope. Will NOT start revisions earlier than planned. So I put all that nervous energy to work, getting my office ready for what’s to come.
The light fixture in my office burned out or shorted out or something this winter, and we haven’t had it fixed yet. I’ve got lamps in there, don’t really need the ceiling fixture, but somehow this became a reason to work at the dining room table instead, or in cafes. In fact, all but the first 70 pages of the first draft of this novel were written in Portland cafes. (The first 70 pages were written at Ragdale.) I decided to reclaim the office for the revisions. I’ll probably still do a good bit of work at my favorite cafe, because I’ve come to work well with the sounds of other people’s lives going on around me. A real change from the last book, when I needed to be holed up in my office in silence, not even any music playing. My friend Ernesto has written two novels (and counting) in a Brooklyn cafe, and I never before understood how he could work with all the distractions. I get it now. Sometimes the distractions at home have a stronger pull than the background noise and temptation to eavesdrop that can trip you up when trying to write outside the house.
Over the course of the few months since the light fixture broke, a remarkable pile of crap had accumulated on my desk. It took two hours this morning to sort through it all. Some of it was paperwork to be filed, but most was just trash. Ridiculous. I’d say never again, but this is not the first time I’ve had to dig to find my desk. So two hours of sorting, some badly needed dusting, and a clearing of the bulletin board to make way for the scraps of paper and index cards etc to come.
The image in the lower left corner of the bulletin board was taken from the cover of an old lit mag (Icarus 14). It’s “Dionysus II: This Is My Blood” by Marie Hines. I came across it on my bookshelf as I was starting this project in October 2005. Who knows how long the damn thing had hung around, and when I finally looked at it, there was one of my main characters, sitting right there. The subject of the painting looks so much like the character in my head it’s a bit creepy. So he’ll sit there and watch me revise and keep me honest. The postcard at the top is a promotional card for Mary Gaitskill’s Bad Behavior. I found it tucked into my second-hand copy of the paperback. It’s from Spring 1989. I was still in high school and hadn’t yet read Gaitskill, who is now one of my favorite writers and a big influence on my own work. I love the little artifacts that turn up in used books. This book has very little in common with Bad Behavior, but it’s up there anyway because it’s gives me an inexplicable little charge to see it.
And then we have my failbetter mug. I am terribly guilty of magical thinking, and failbetter was my first publication, so that has become my good-luck writing coffee mug. And then my research books and folder of printed out research material. My index cards, my chicken baskets (to hold the pens I still haven’t bought)…
And then, and then…. The printout of the first draft. I printed it out on Wednesday and have not looked at it. I’ve hugged it a few times, but I haven’t read even a word. We’ll see if I can hold off until the 8th without having to ask Billy to hide it.
I’m ready. No prepping left to do… Maybe I can force myself to sit down to the short story during naptime today.
Sometimes I think these sort of rituals (setting up the space) are critical to writing. I switched desks today and have been setting up my space, too!
Sometimes I think these sort of rituals (setting up the space) are critical to writing. I switched desks today and have been setting up my space, too!
It seems I am forever clearing out and setting up a work space and then letting it clutter up again. The ebb and flow of creativity embodied in a shifting pile of stuff.
It seems I am forever clearing out and setting up a work space and then letting it clutter up again. The ebb and flow of creativity embodied in a shifting pile of stuff.
i love that perfect moment of potential you get staring at a freshly cleared space. there’s something so totally head-clearing about it.
i love that perfect moment of potential you get staring at a freshly cleared space. there’s something so totally head-clearing about it.
Virginia Woolf says you need the room of your own — and a lock. I’ve been following your life since BT (before Thumper) and think as good as your Billy is, you can dispense with the lock.
Virginia Woolf says you need the room of your own — and a lock. I’ve been following your life since BT (before Thumper) and think as good as your Billy is, you can dispense with the lock.
Being a big fan of chickens, I noticed yours 🙂
Being a big fan of chickens, I noticed yours 🙂
i love hearing about your love of writing 🙂 the fact that you hugged the manuscript.. it speaks volumes.
i love hearing about your love of writing 🙂 the fact that you hugged the manuscript.. it speaks volumes.
Cari – I finally followed you over here when AngryChicken pointed out that you hadn’t dropped out of the blog-o-sphere. Happy birthday to Thumper! Congratulations on finishing the first draft. Further congratulations on the progress of the garden. I love what you’ve done with the new blog….
Cari – I finally followed you over here when AngryChicken pointed out that you hadn’t dropped out of the blog-o-sphere. Happy birthday to Thumper! Congratulations on finishing the first draft. Further congratulations on the progress of the garden. I love what you’ve done with the new blog….
I think the idea of a good luck mug is perfect. I enjoyed your Failbetter story…I’m looking forward to reading about your revision and writing process on this story.
I think the idea of a good luck mug is perfect. I enjoyed your Failbetter story…I’m looking forward to reading about your revision and writing process on this story.
Ooh lala, a clean desktop, omg, Cari, I can only aspire to be like you when and if I ever grow up! The chickens! The chickens! Why do they have to be so far away from me??
Ooh lala, a clean desktop, omg, Cari, I can only aspire to be like you when and if I ever grow up! The chickens! The chickens! Why do they have to be so far away from me??
I’m tapping my fingers waiting for the 8th as well. I’m about 10,000 words into my first draft (thanks again for the inspiration to start writing again), and I’m so enjoying hearing about your strategies for this novel. Keep going!
I’m tapping my fingers waiting for the 8th as well. I’m about 10,000 words into my first draft (thanks again for the inspiration to start writing again), and I’m so enjoying hearing about your strategies for this novel. Keep going!