Almost Finished

I am minutes away from beginning to grout all of the backsplash tile... and once I'm done, and it's all wiped clean, and the dishes from the spur-of-the-moment party last night are all done, I'll post pics of the finished project.

Nothing is as rewarding to me as having something finished. And nothing more irritating than not finishing something, especially when I can't finish it. The "can't" is always one of two things:

1. I do not have the time in my schedule to work on it, or

2. I don't have a clue how to go about finishing it.

The latter reason is impeding my novel progress at the moment. I'd tell you that from now on I'll devote myself to this novel, but my son could still use two quilts on his bed to complete his room. And my TV trays could use some sanding, painting, and lacquering. And I have about 100 books still to rebind for the library. And that back hallway still to paint, when I paint the walls near the backsplashes, once the grouting is finished. And some books to peruse and take notes from before I take them back to the library in a week.

As usual, though, I'll fit that pesky novel in. I'll be taking off for Seattle soon, and I'll have a month without house projects to devote just to writing and reading. Though I'm sure I'll find plenty of other projects to tackle while I'm there, too.

Wish me luck on the grouting! I'll post again as soon as I take pictures. Who knows, I might just fill this week with pictures of my house, now that it's worth looking at.

Speed Writing

Speed Dating is a relatively new phenomenon, consisting of a bunch of single(?) people getting together somewhere public and rapidly moving from prospective partner to prospective partner, talking to each other for somewhere between 30 seconds and 5 minutes (I have no knowledge of what time limit is ideal, as I've been married longer than many of you have lived on the earth).

At the end of the Speed Dating "session," participants get to request numbers of those people who made an impression on them. If both participants request each other, then a connection is made. If both don't, there's no really uncomfortable moment when anyone has to reject the other, for no commitment has been made. Supposedly, it's a great way to meet lots of people and reject most of them in a very short amount of time.

As most of you know, I've been in writing limbo, drifting around without attaching myself to any of my writing projects. Do I want to write another veggie book for children? Revise one of my three novels? Work on my Oxford play? Write a ten-minute comedy? You see, it isn't that I don't have any ideas... it's like a filthy house: where does one start cleaning?

I've decided to play my own sort of game: Speed Writing. I'll set up six different writing projects on my computer--the three novels, the Oxford play, a blank screen for the ten-minute, and another document with several veggies listed (cabbage is next, I think)--and I'll spend ten minutes with each of them.

At the end of ten minutes, whether I enjoyed working on the project or not, I'll switch to the next. At the end of an hour, I'll have tried them all, and I might have discovered the one I want most to work on. More than likely I'll be down to two, and I'll spend a longer date--30 minutes--on each one to figure out which will be my "steady date" for a while.

I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow. I've never tried anything like this before. Have you? Do you have six (or more) projects that could use some doing? Might this work in other activities, like painting, sewing, etc.? What do you think?

Swear!

For some reason my mind is on Hamlet, a character I identify with more strongly than I'd like--not because I have a mind to kill my stepfather (what stepfather?) or save Denmark from a tyrant (why would I care?), but because I often waffle through life, unsure whether I should take chances, "waste" my time on writing and other pursuits, etc. So much to do, so little time.

Now that I have finished training, with flying colors no less (the trainer said my work was top-notch and recommended me for the next level of training, which involves actually facilitating two online classes!!!!), it's time for me to take care of a number of things... only I feel like Hamlet's ghost is roaming outside in my back yard, moaning at me, "Swear!" to make sure I do what I say I will.

So, here I SWEAR that I will get the following things done this summer:

1.  Train Pam so that she can do bookkeeping at the church (instead of me!)

2.  Paint a big painting for my sister and brother-in-law.

3.  Finish the ship painting I've been working on for a year.

4.  Revise Desdemona and send it out to at least five theatres.

5.  Revise Remember Me and get a date set for the playwrights group to read it.

6.  Revise Mariah's Ark and start sending it to agents.

7.  Revise my Charley novel and send it out to friendly readers (and not so friendly ones).

8.  Research extensively for Thomas novels (my first novel attempt, which I am revamping).

9.  Write outlines for the full set of Thomas novels.

10.  Revise article for ghost book (should be done this week!).

11.  Send out article to all newspapers in western Washington.

12.  Post article on craigslist (weekly or twice per week).

13.  Conduct the majority of interviews for ghost book (by end of September).

14.  Go through all textbooks for classes.

15.  Plan out classes for fall (1 face-to-face, 2 online in Kansas, 2 mentored online classes).

16.  Sew a medieval costume for myself.

17.  Sew several outfits for myself and my daughter.

18.  Visit my sister and aunt in Texas.

19.  Get a ten-minute play ready for production during the fall term (for Jan. performance).

and

20.  Plan and implement fun activities for my kids.

Okay, yes, this is an exhaustive list. But I've written it out, and I've sworn it. Now I need to print it out and paste it up somewhere (perhaps a bathroom mirror?). I'll let you know when I get something done on it, and I'll do everything I possibly can to get the whole shebang done by mid-September or so (school here starts in late September, since we're on the quarter system). 

Now it's your turn. Make a list, put it up for us to see, and SWEAR it!

What Do I Do Now?

I may have a week of writing ahead of me, since my weekly obligations have tapered off to some extent (or, at least, I've learned to manage them a bit more effectively). But now I am up against a block: I want to write, but I don't want to write any of the projects on my list. 

So, what does one do, when one has several hours to spend on one's craft, but no desire to finish a current project? What if I don't want to revise Desdemona, or revise Remember Me, and I'm not yet ready to revise my novel Mariah's Ark? What if the prospect of another vegetable children's book doesn't float my boat today, and the idea of researching the vegetables online makes me cringe? What should I do?

Perhaps I should spend the day at the piano, sight reading a few songs I've never looked at before, or practicing some old standards. Perhaps I should pull out the paintbrushes and paint another small watercolor, something that won't linger, unfinished, like so many other things. Perhaps I should pull out the sewing machine and fix my husband's (too-tight) pants. 

I could even get more responsible, and fill my day with real chores: laundry, grocery shopping, dropping off donated clothing, etc. But that road only leads to depression (I know, I've tried it, as some of you know). 

Nope, the best thing I can do is write. And what do I have to write? A ghost book, of course. I have a press release to create, a list of newspapers to make (to send the release to when it's finished), and a whole world of ghost stories to venture into, once I get them. I even have two people waiting to tell me their own local ghost experiences, whenever I tell them I'm ready. And the prospect of all these steps--yes, even the press release--fills me with excitement. 

So I'm going ghost hunting today. Wish me luck!