Okay, so I know it looked to you like I just kind of forgot to post for the last two weeks, but I was actually experiencing a complete WordPress meltdown.
Two days after I posted my last entry, I went online to draft my next post and I got this crazy error code. Couldn’t even get a login page. Arg! I mean, I’m pretty good with WordPress once I’m in the back end, but if I can’t get there, I’m lost. Luckily, a friend from the Kleverdog co-working space gave me a good rate on some FTP magic and viola! I’m back online.
So, let’s see, what have I missed telling you about since the 18th? Well, we’re still in the process of moving offices. So I’m currently working on a round conference table, with my keyboard WAY too high, which sucks, but it’s temporary. I’ve become a bit of an ergonomics Nazi, but frankly, I don’t know how people work long days without good positioning. I just ache and ache if things aren’t set up right. Which reminds me, I just discovered a new mouse called the RollerMouse. It’s awesome. You can read my review of it on the company blog here.
I continue to plug away at the novel. I’m currently doing a pass to fine tune the language. Really nit-picking stuff. Some mornings I plow through three pages, other mornings, like this one, I spend an hour and a half on one paragraph. It would be discouragingly slow if I didn’t see a real difference in the pages before and after. Certain sections are expanding, gaining detail and nuance, but mostly I’m cutting. Trim, trim, trim.
The thing I’ve most wanted to blog about though is that I’m re-reading a book called The Writer’s Portable Mentor, by Priscilla Long. If you’re a writer, you really must check it out. It’s by far the best book I’ve come across about writing as a craft. It’s full of exercises, most of which I ignored the first time I read it, but now that I actually have a project in full swing, it’s giving me some great insight into how to hone my skills and really look at every sentence for structure and sound and meaning.
The most basic lesson is to write every day. I’ve heard lots of writers say that and I’ve thought “yeah, totally, every day, except days I oversleep, or weekends, or you know, if I don’t get around to it,” but something clicked this time when I read that. Every day. Long says to set a timer and write EVERY DAY for 15 minutes in a journal. This is meant to be totally separate from any other writing you do, and it’s a safety net. This is my new understanding of it. It’s that, even if I don’t get to my novel on any given day, or week, I will still be writing, even if it’s just those few minutes before bed, or on a coffee break. Every day. I’m about a week into it, but I’m telling you, something clicked. I intend to write every day for the rest of my life. Seriously. Every day.
So that’s what’s been happening. I’m very excited to be back online.
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