Staying at Braveheart's is one big photo op every time. What a wonderful environment she has created in and around her home!
Thank goodness for my writing group. Seriously, folks, you couldn't ask for a more intelligent, creative, talented and caring circle of friends.
Braveheart could tell I was keyed up as soon as I got to her house. I'd had a pretty much horrific writing date with myself in the previous two-hours, during which I hadn't made any progress. We split a Blue Moon beer with tangerine segments in the bottom of the glasses and talked about some of the issues that came up regarding things I'd written for the novel during NaNoWriMo which were blown out of the water by what I saw in Death Valley last weekend. She helped with the issue we discussed.
During check-in at our writing group I enthused about the cool and helpful things I learned over the weekend. But when we wrote for half an hour I found myself reworking one paragraph over and over. I finally wrote about a page and a half, but usually I get 5-8 pages during a writing exercize of this length.
The upshot is that I was able to vent my fears and get talked down from the precipice of my doubts. Good advice from all. The reality can only serve the story. If absolute realism has to take a backseat to a good story, it's worth it. (I can make my apologies in author's notes, if need be.) And that if you hold onto a thing too tightly, it can't breathe.
Oh yeah. Good stuff. I left feeling relieved and not at all embarassed about taking up everyone's time. Now that is a gift.
I do believe that I can build this book.
But if anyone wants to clap their hands like for Tinkerbell, that's okay, too.
2 comments:
Have enjoyed reading your blog for quite some time. Could you please tell me the name of these lovely flowers--we don't see them here in Iowa.
Hi, Iowa,
Braveheart, in whose yard these beauties grow, doesn't know the name of them either. Sorry! (She's also from Iowa!)
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