Things that have kept me from writing as much as I'd like to this last week include working (mostly on the weekends) and preparing/facilitating Spiderweb Salon's Harvest Showcase. SHOW=WORTH IT. I can't believe it was our sixth show already, it's growing up so fast! There were a lot more performers this time, which meant a little extra effort for us getting everything organized and the show ran a little longer than we planned, but overall, it was a great time and lots of people came out to enjoy the beautiful evening with us! I love hearing people's responses to the show, everyone starts talking about the awesome creative things they want to accomplish and they rally collaboration and support from other. It's a really beautiful thing.
At the Salon, I read a couple excerpts from what I've been working on. They were received positively but I can't help but be completely insecure about it. Every time someone came up to me to talk about it, I found myself changing the subject as quickly as possible. WHY?! I know everyone is well-intentioned but I have convinced myself that it wasn't good. I can't explain how dumb this is, I know, I know. Just some stuff I need to work through, I guess. I really do want to talk about it to people who are legitimately interested but approaching the subject is hard for me. There's so much explaining that goes in to it, I mean, that's why I'm trying to write a damn novel about it! I think I'll feel more confident once I have time to edit and familiarize myself with the work a little more. I need to work on not being so weird about it.
The other thing that has kept my productivity from skyrocketing this week is some work my landlords have decided to take on with this house. There's been tons of hammering and crashing and drilling and scraping and boom box playing... some days it just drives me mad. I've had to seek shelter at friends' houses or run errands until they go away. It's been terribly frustrating. But, on the bright side, part of their project looks to be putting in a porch swing up right by my front door which I have ALWAYS wanted, and I finally mustered up the courage to ask them to fix a broken window and put some damn weatherstripping on my doors while they're at it. Maybe I won't get frostbite on my toes this winter. So that's cool.
All this being said, the support of my good friends and even some incredibly kind acquaintances these last couple weeks means so much to me. I am referring to both the encouragement Conor and I receive when working to put on Spiderweb Salon and for my personal projects and goals alike.
Some of you get texts from me every day about how I've just written another thousand words or that I'm stuck or sad and don't know what to do... I thank you. Some of you have come to my house to workshop with me, have brought coffee and news of the outside world... I thank you, too! I've had a lot of people come up to me and ask me how my novel is going. If you do this and I seem taken aback, IT'S OKAY. It's just that I am still getting used to the fact that I AM writing a novel, and the fact that it has peeked your curiosity is so incredibly flattering to me I don't know what to do. Keep in mind I am infamously bad at taking compliments, and for someone like you to be interested in something that means so much to me is the greatest compliment I have probably ever received. Thank you, everyone, for your love and encouragement. After tomorrow there's only two more weeks to go, hopefully by then I will be wrapping this up and we shall be on to bigger and better things.
When you're ready, whether you finish in time or not, whether it's finished in general or not, bring copies of a couple chapters to the North Branch Writers' Critique Group. We meet Tuesdays 7-9 PM at the North Branch Library and are always interested in quality writing.
ReplyDeleteUntil then, keep plugging away!
Thank you so much, I appreciate the support and may have to come by and check things out sometime!
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