Last weekend was the annual Hells Bells Writing Retreat - a weekend dedicated to our writing. No feelings of guilt because I should be doing the vacuuming or the weeding. Instead, I spent the weekend plotting, writing, editing and workshopping. I love the beach and I love Caloundra in winter. Saturday was a bit overcast but Sunday was spectacular. I spent Sunday morning writing on the waterfront and I wondered why it had taken me until Sunday to get down there. Mental note for next year. Only another writer really understands how other writers think. So when you're walking along a boardwalk near the beach and say "So when I kill him I should throw him somewhere like that" they don't even blink. But the person walking behind you will... Just before they reach for their phone to call the cops (sorry about that lady in the purple shirt). There were some absolute gems in the story starter envelopes this year. I loved mine and both of them had me thinking, the first was all about seeds and new life - it had a rural vibe. The second was much more cosmopolitan and the cowboy's belt buckle in the middle of it really inspired me. Then I combined them and my imagination took a whole other turn. I had some real insights into one of my characters in my plotting workshop. I've met Aurora before but only scratched the surface. Now I know she might be impulsive, but she's not stupid. And Kade is going to learn the hard way that little white lies have a way of growing all of their own.
Have you read Debra Dixon's book on Goal, Motivation and Conflict? Then I suggest you try the exercise she suggests: "What's mine is mine, what's yours is up for grabs". The aim is to show a character's goal, motivation and conflict in a short piece that must include the character uttering that sentence. We did it on Saturday and I now have a whole new character in my head. So many new ideas, so little time. Now I need another writing weekend to get them all down. Well, the winds of change have well and truly blown through the Greene household.
For twenty-four years we've enjoyed the benefits of living in a progressive city - a bus service every five minutes, a major metropolitan shopping centre within walking distance and every service imaginable within a very small circle around our house. Sadly though, the city became a little too progressive for us, with a change of town plan bringing the developers charging in. Within weeks of the relaxation of the town plan four properties on our block sold to developers and the writing was on the wall. A development notice next door for three-story units one metre from our boundary fence was the final straw. We've moved! We're still in the city but now we're in a small residential development bordering bushland and there's no chance of the developers moving in here. We have a bus service every hour, a pony club within walking distance and hours worth of new roads, parks and neighbourhoods to explore, like today's walk to a coastal wetlands (above). Oh, and we're just up the road from a bakery that wins international awards for its bread (YUM). It's less convenient for the day job and all of our errands but already we feel more relaxed here. Or we will, once we whip this new house into shape. I'd forgotten the joys (??) of renovation. Just as we were starting to feel more settled in this new place, the winds of change blew up a catastrophic storm front. Gromit - our thirteen and a half year old lab cross - suffered a liver abscess. The infection spread quickly and despite excellent vet care, she didn't survive. Our hearts are broken, but we are trying to focus on the good times, and there were so many of those. She was happy in this new house and we're sad she didn't get to enjoy it for longer. Writing has been on the back-burner for the last two months while we sorted ourselves out. I don't have my desk set up, and 80% of our stuff is still in boxes while we wait for the tiler and the painter to work their magic. I'm hopeful by this time next month, things will be starting to settle down and the words will start to flow. Wish me luck... |
Fiona Greene AuthorWhen you set out on a journey and night falls, that's when you will discover the stars." Archives
November 2022
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