And boy have I got things to tell you. I’ve moved house since I last blogged, to a big ol’ house on the hill (ostensibly owned by my parents, but they’re fairly unlikely to kick me out, and they’re welcome to stay at any time [how magnanimous am I, right?]). This has resolved a number of problems related to my writing, archery, work, and pretty much everything really.
SPAAAACE. I have it now, and it’s amazing what it can do for a person’s productivity.
I now have:
- a shed for gardening gear
- a fifty metre stretch of fire-trail (on private property!) that I can send arrows zipping along
- a garage with enough space for storage, car, AND a workshop…
But most importantly, I have an office. A room all of my own, with a closeable door (not yet lockable, though I could resolve that with a quick trip to Bunnings) and enough desk space to sprawl out at the keyboard.
Why then, have I not gotten my novel finished? Why no blog posts? What’s going on, ‘ey?
Weeeell, it’s mostly down to all the fun I’ve been having settling in: I can now play The Division and scream at my buddies on Teamspeak without waking up the rest of the house. I can bash away in the garage making whatever I fancy for the house and yard (e.g. – an archery backstop, and finally finishing the drawers for the Jackaroo), and of course there’s plenty of gardening to do. Axe-throwing-as-a-hobby is only a weekend’s work away, and then there’s a fire-pit to build ready for winter, fencing to keep my ravenous toddler away from cliffs…
And all this has been a massively cathartic experience -after being cooped up in tiny townhouses for most of the last decade- but finally I’m beginning to re-focus. This is the time to get back into the writing -no time like the present- and I’ve said I’ll do this thing, so I will.
Pages of synopsis have been hand edited during my blogosphere-absence, with everything now ready to type back into a digital format. I’m planning to finish this draft sometime in the next six months, and feeling confident I’ll be able to do it.
How are your writing / creative endeavours going? Let’s cheer each other along, and clash drinking vessels in a comradely fashion!
Best regards,
D.R.Sylvester
D.R.SYLVESTER FICTION 
Congrats on the move and added space! A clear home, a clear mind (I’m sure somebody said that sometime, somewhere). Also kudos for re-focusing. I’ve been doing some of that recently, too, and tearing up a lot of the draft and re-writing chunks as a result. But we’ll get to the finish line as long as we keep hacking away at it. Good luck to you, and welcome back!
Thanks Millie 🙂 I saw from your blog that you’ve been plugging away at it as well – once either of us ever finally finishes, the beta reading will be epic! Hope the edits are going well? It’s fun when the eureka moments are flowing, but I’m a few long writing sessions away from getting into that groove still
Oh man, I can’t imagine how fun the beta reading will be. 😛
Looking forward to your progress, and each small step will be a good step! I’m really respecting the plotting and planning process. In the past few iterations, I found my stride/style, and now I just gotta keep repeating the plot-write-edit/revision cycle until I get it to a complete, good-for-other-people-to-read draft. Fingers crossed!
I believe in our abilities as recovering pantsers. These books are gonna get written!
Damn, I missed you and your posts! So glad to see you back here, and happy for you and your new digs!! This arrangement seems to really suit you so much better.
As for my endeavors, I’m attempting the print book thing once again, maybe the 3rd time really is a charm! Keep up the good work, you’ll have a great book at the end of this tunnel!
Thanks mate! Hells yeah, I’ve missed our back and forth conversations about writing as well 🙂 I’m very interested to see if the print book self publishing beast can be tamed, as it’s a route I want to follow with some of my weirder, less marketable story ideas down the track.