When the flow is slow

Okay, what happens when this "going with the flow" thing is slow? As in, I didn't get done nearly as much as I'd hoped this week. I could justify it away - we just moved, I finally joined a pool and swam a few times, my partner is a minister (no worries, it's a very liberal church) so there have been tons of get-togethers... all good, all making life rich, but not helping me meet my weekly goals. I did get stuff done - just not enough.

I like going with the flow, but I also like getting things done. This week: how to find the balance? How to make it a productive flow? I'm going back to my practice of tracking my hours: writing is blue, filmmaking red, mind/body stuff purple, general appointments pink... Will the intention to get more done be enough?

Here's a photo from one of this week's walks. Actually a photo of me taking a photo of Mt Baker.

Monday Meeting: Goals for the week of 2/21/10:

YA novel

• Contact readers w/questions from comments
  

Middle grade novel

• Revise Chapter Three and send to writing partner

YA novel #2

• Add synopsis to computer

Film

• Complete the final steps to launch
  

Strengthening the center

• Meditate at beginning of day just before starting to write
  
• Two walks in nature

Personal Gold

So we spent Saturday one hour away in Vancouver visiting friends in town for the Olympics. I'd assumed that today's post would be about the athletes & trying to be the best. Motivation, achievement, practice... Um, not at all.

The best part of Saturday was not the Olympic hubbub. It was seeing old friends. And the best part of seeing old friends was sitting in a hotel overlooking a park and having coffee and tea and talking and feeling comfortable and feeling a shared history and knowing that we were a group of four people hoping the best for one another.

What does that have to do with writing? I felt nourished, centered and focused. But then we drove away to this new place where we share history with no one.

I'm joining a writers group here and will be attending the northwest SCBWI conference this spring. I Skype weekly with my main crit partner & have met fantastic new readers through the blogosphere. That's doing the right thing. That feels good...

But I do want to remember the simple power of relationships. Those people who may not write but do believe in us. They're vital. My nieces get adamant about YA books I should read. My younger nephew and niece both suggest topics and characters. Friends listen. My partner gives me space. It's all part of the mix that helps me fill notebooks and gets me to my laptop. I'm grateful for everyone.

Some writers may be called to be isolated artists. No judgment. Very cool if that's what works. But people are for me.

And you?

Photo from one of this week's walks. Beneath where we're staying. Don't know what the red thing is. Bumps in the distance are the Canadian Cascades (I think).


Monday Meeting: Goals for the week of 2/15/10:

YA novel

• Incorporate feedback from 3 new readers
• Make timeline for conference submissions
  

Middle grade novel

• Revise 2nd chapter and send to writing partner
• Make timeline for conference submissions

YA novel #2

• Add synopsis to computer

Strengthening the center

• Meditate at beginning of day just before starting to write (I need to pay more attention to this...)
  
• Two walks in nature

The Power of Place

So I was feeling stupid for including the list of "Flow-encouraging Places" here. This is a writing blog, not Facebook. Who cares where I've been? So I was feeling embarrassed and amateurish until the end of the week when I noticed that I had clicked on at least some of the links everyday. And that they gave me a little peace.

I've spent significant amounts of time in all those "Flow-encouraging Places" (except for Village Books in Bellingham, Washington - that's a new find) and when I've been in those places I've been able to turn down the volume of my mind and get better at just being. And when my mind is quieter my writing is better. I've spent too much time forcing projects along because I'd somehow decided they were something I should do. Luckily I've had friends around to tip me off that my eyes light up when I talk about that other project I've put on hold. "Just follow your energy" someone in a writing group once said.

Even better, my main crit partner gave me a bamboo plant to remind me of a book that she can tell I'm the most excited about but keep thinking I should do later.

All this is to say that I'm glad I put "Flow-encouraging Places" on the blog because now I go to some of those pictures and chill out and then start writing. So far so good.

What do others do to get settled before writing? If "getting settled" isn't a priority, then what gets you going?

Here's a photo from last week's walk in nature



Monday Meeting: Goals for the week of 2/8/10:

YA novel

• Send 1st 50 pages to 2 new readers

Middle grade novel

• Revise 1st chapter and send to writing partner
• Trim the bamboo plant
  

Strengthening the center

• Meditate at beginning of day just before starting to write
• Two walks in nature

(PS - don't know why the date says Sunday, I'm posting at 12:28 AM Tues 2/9)

Where I write

True, I'm brand new to the Pacific so I don't really know what this new life will be. But I love where I'm writing. Even when it's gray, somewhere over the islands is a fleck of light. And the sky, the bay and silhouetted hills are always a water-color painting. Looking up rejuvenates.


The desktop - a door stained dark - is my father's from when he payed bills in the basement of the house I grew up. Each box in back is dedicated to one project - a book or a film. Photos are mostly downstairs. Not sure if this is how it will be, but for now I'm enjoying the simplicity.

Yeah, so maybe the boxes and (I think) lack of clutter might make me look organized... But, in truth, if I didn't have boxes to close things in, refuse would take over. My fourth grade teacher once turned my desk upside down, insisting that the stuff on the floor was no messier than it had been in my desk. Decades later, I still struggle with organization. Boxes. I love boxes where I can hide my stuff. Maybe that's why I love the long line of boxcars pulled by every few hours.

So, it's Monday (didn't post until Tues), and I love Monday meetings. Worry - is it counter to going with the flow if I state goals for the week?

It's okay, right? Even while flowing one should work to avoid the rocks... Head for smoother water? So I'm hoping modest goals can keep me going in the right direction. (But what if I'm actually supposed to be standing still? A question for later...)

Goals for the week of 2/1/1o:

YA novel

• Finish transcribing handwritten edits to computer for complete new draft
  
• Review 1st 50 pages
• Send revised 1st 50 to writing partner

Middle grade novel

• Reread 1st chapter
  

Strengthening the center

• Meditate daily
• At least one walk in nature

Oh yeah, the strengthening the center thing... I've learned that my writing suffers when I forget to do that stuff.