COURAGE....
Just came back from a long weekend with my writing group- and once again it was a relaxing, nurturing, that much needed push in the right direction.
Once again we found ourselves at the beach. As usual I went for walks (although this time no koalas were found - I had to make do with the odd wallaby or two, or four), took photos, talked and dreamed.
There were great ocean views and stunning sunsets.
We ventured further--- found some friendly faces
some wonderful trees.
And we wrote, we pondered, we discussed and debated. We workshopped and wrangled synopsis, edited and queried the joys of social media and which was right for us.
I edited a whole manuscript while away---mind you it was hard work as the photo here clearly shows.
I came home reluctant to face the real world. I wanted to stay and write, and think writerly thoughts. Be with people who know that talking about a book in process is like talking about family. But I also came back with a stronger focus on what I am doing, and what I want to do.
Each of these retreats we are offered to choose a card from an oracle pack. A set of cards that has a word on it. The question usually asked is 'what attitude am I taking for this...'. Could be for a novel, for the day, for our writing future, could be for an editor, could be for a rewrite, for a reassessment of what we are doing. It's a fun way of thinking outside the square.
My word for this weekend was courage.
Courage.
For me it was a slap in the face. Yep, time for me to stand up- be brave and accept what is working and what isn't.
Courage to keep on with what I believe in, to write what I want to.
It also reinforced the fact that I'm not alone. My writing group has my back, with support and encouragement but they are also brave enough to ask the difficult questions.
We are each so different, each have our own views and opinions, own goals as well as group goals- we don't agree on everything all the time - but we work.
We work well.
Vicki
http://vickithornton.weebly.com/
Once again we found ourselves at the beach. As usual I went for walks (although this time no koalas were found - I had to make do with the odd wallaby or two, or four), took photos, talked and dreamed.
There were great ocean views and stunning sunsets.
We ventured further--- found some friendly faces
And we wrote, we pondered, we discussed and debated. We workshopped and wrangled synopsis, edited and queried the joys of social media and which was right for us.
I edited a whole manuscript while away---mind you it was hard work as the photo here clearly shows.
I came home reluctant to face the real world. I wanted to stay and write, and think writerly thoughts. Be with people who know that talking about a book in process is like talking about family. But I also came back with a stronger focus on what I am doing, and what I want to do.
Each of these retreats we are offered to choose a card from an oracle pack. A set of cards that has a word on it. The question usually asked is 'what attitude am I taking for this...'. Could be for a novel, for the day, for our writing future, could be for an editor, could be for a rewrite, for a reassessment of what we are doing. It's a fun way of thinking outside the square.
My word for this weekend was courage.
Courage.
For me it was a slap in the face. Yep, time for me to stand up- be brave and accept what is working and what isn't.
Courage to keep on with what I believe in, to write what I want to.
It also reinforced the fact that I'm not alone. My writing group has my back, with support and encouragement but they are also brave enough to ask the difficult questions.
We are each so different, each have our own views and opinions, own goals as well as group goals- we don't agree on everything all the time - but we work.
We work well.
Vicki
http://vickithornton.weebly.com/
Comments
Post a Comment