A quiet location (not home) . Libraries are good for this. Something to look at . A window to the outside is nice, but in a pinch you can use one of those over-sized picture books from the photography section and place it, open, against the back of a library desk Something to listen to . Use an ambient noise mixer and a soundtrack to have some nice, wordless ambience. I choose the Ravenclaw Common room on Ambient Mixer and the Harry Potter Soundtrack on YouTube. Clear goals . What do you want to get done during this alone time? Make sure you know your schedule and what you want out of this session. Don’t let yourself come out of this retreat without meeting at least half of your goals. Something to read . You may get bored staring at the blinking cursor but, rather than use this as an opportunity to browse Facebook, why not make that time productive? Read something you’ve been meaning to for a long time, or grab something entirely new from the shelf just because. You can also...
The ego bubble is the enemy. For the better part of a year I haven't shared my work. I've been writing in a thick bubble free of any criticism - constructive or otherwise. Just last week, I popped that bubble by submitting a story to my writer's group. When I heard what they had to say, I was gobsmacked! I reacted poorly. My issue was not the response to the story I submitted, but my response to receiving feedback. I've always touted the necessity of workshop to learn the flaws of your writing, and touted not being defensive. But there I was - defending! I'm of a rather firm belief that if the story doesn't explain the idea you want to get across to the reader, than you aren't doing your job. No amount of background information directly from your mouth to the group is going to save that story - only revision will. I was upset by my own hypocrisy. I'd thought of myself as having a thick skin, being able to take critique, but I was clearly wrong....
I've recently been reading Booklife by Jeff Vandermeer, and I must say it's a great read so far! It's all about balancing one's public (often digital) life with their more private, creative life. Though some of the technical bits are a little outdated, the advice is as good as ever. As I read through a section all about choosing one's level of involvement on the internet, I felt a familiar welling of panic. I have a confession: I've felt jealous and bemused by young people's ability to juggle endless social media accounts while still having the time to write a story a week, and go out and explore the world. I have trouble just balancing writing with cleaning and keeping the husbs fed. Then it hit me: most younger folks don't have to cook. They don't have to meal plan, grocery shop, or do the dishes after. For a lot of students, it's eat and run - toss the paper plates and get to class or where-have-you. So of course they have the time! ...
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