Ten days in the life of a writer; one lesson

We have gone electric, with a Chevy Bolt EUV. 

Day 1, Saturday: Wake up early to the cat in the distress. Roar her into the vet for an unexpected visit. Wait for the vet to call. Receive that call with relief, as a round of antibiotics should do the trick. That and an expensive extensive ultrasound; booked for Tuesday. Get dropped off at the local bookstore’s community classroom to deliver the 3-hour “What’s Your Story?” workshop; wish Val, my partner, well as she zooms off to pick up the cat. Return home after a successful afternoon. Eat. Fall into bed. Writing? What writing? I talked writing in the workshop; that will have to do.

Day 2, Sunday: Wake up early to finish editing the piece for sharing in that afternoon’s “Spark Your Writing” session. Walk outside in the amazing fall sunshine. Enjoy the session with fellow writers. Enjoy the cat’s returned vitality. Writing? Yes: Done early and shared with the group. Good.

Day 3, Monday: Confirm the landscape company’s schedule for the week — getting in some garden refurbishment before the snow flies. Eat lunch. Head out to test drive a car; ours is 15 years old and needs replacing. We have been saving for years, and Val has been researching options for ages; we’ve decided now is the time. Val gave this first car two thumbs down. Writing? What writing? No writing today.

Day 4, Tuesday: Roar the cat into the vet for the 8am ultrasound appointment. Leave her there. Return home; eat. Check email to see that the prompts have arrived for the 3-day asynchronous online workshop I signed up for a while ago; the focus is stories told in just six sentences. The prompts are interesting; the writing should be fun. Then dash out to test drive a second car. That one we both liked. Return home, drop Val off so she can make lunch, roar to the vet’s to pick up the cat. Return home, eat lunch. Then have a lively disagreement about the need to try a third car. In the end, I head out to try it. Don’t like it. Was worth the effort to be able to cross it off our list. Writing? I drafted a possible opening for my piece for next Sunday’s “Spark Your Writing” session. Having even a paragraph or two on the page gives my mind something to noodle on as the days go by and, when I return to the page, it is not blank (even if what’s there is rubbish, at least the page is not empty).

Day 5, Wednesday: Take the plunge. Secure that second test-driven car. Make appointment to arrange the finances and pick it up tomorrow. Deliver the morning class “Life Sketches in Words”, which is terrific — so much fun to lead, to share and to write with that group of women. Eat. Run errands, including the car financing. Spend the evening with my writing group talking writing and books, which was fun. Writing? Yes. Drafted vignettes in longhand, in my notebook, during the Life Sketches class. Nothing complete, but seeds for future nurturing are planted on the page. Good. That’s something. And, in my books, talking writing is writing, because not all writing happens on the page. Sometimes it happens in the mind or in conversation. Ideas are formed. Seeds are planted. That’s how a story begins.

Day 6, Thursday: Wake up early to write my first six-sentence story for posting to the private Facebook group through which the workshop leader will communicate. Remarkably, I post a story I’m not unhappy with. Thereafter, I take possession of the new car. And receive, by phone while managing receipt of said car, results from the vet on the cat’s ultrasound; it showed nothing alarming though followup bloodwork is advised. Appointment made for tomorrow. Drive the new car home. Eat. It’s not every day a new vehicle gets parked in the garage, and this one looks good there. Writing? Yes! Only six sentences, but they formed a story about a dysfunctional family.

Day 7, Friday: Another early rising to write my second six-sentence story. This one about a young girl who plots a way to get out of going to school; fun to write and well received by my workshop mates. Take the cat in the new car (!) to the vet for bloodwork; bring her home, eat, await the vet’s call with results. Jubilation when it does, for the news is good. The numbers are “perfect”, especially for her 15-and-a-half years of age. Rest in the afternoon and go to bed early. Writing? Yes; done and dusted early in the day. Even six sentences can tell a complete story.

Day 8, Saturday: Awake early to write my third and final six-sentence story, this one about Muriel and a new pair of glasses. Where do these ideas come from? The prompts spark them, then my mind plays with possibilities, and then I explore what I can produce on the page. Sometimes it’s nothing, but when the deadline looms and time is tight, I am getting better at just getting on with the words and seeing what evolves. Good thing, too, for I’m picked up at 10am to head out of town to deliver our “What’s Your Story?” workshop in a small town in southern Manitoba. The first time Deborah, my co-facilitator and writing collaborator, and I are taking our work beyond Winnipeg. Despite getting lost on the way (we were too busy talking to see the vital sign), we arrived in time and enjoyed delivering the workshop and being present to the participants’ considered work with words and images. Fun. Home by six, in bed by 8, asleep by 9. Writing? Yes: my own six sentences and inspiring others to write their story. Good.

Day 9, Sunday: Up at a respectable hour to polish my piece for that afternoon’s Spark session, which was lively and rewarding. Such fun to write, to read aloud to each other and to share our feedback. So simple, so good. Writing? Yes, both the doing of it and the talking about it. Thank goodness I had enough juice for both today. But then, it was like my battery died. I couldn’t finish supper and, by 7pm I was in bed and asleep shortly thereafter.

Day 10, Monday: Awake and up at 7am. Twelve hours in bed. Wow! What a week that was. Slower pace today. The front yard refurbishment is almost complete; yay! Because snow is in the forecast, some backyard tidy-up was required. It felt good to be physically active for a change; writing is sedentary. But writing I did; my weekly blogpost, which tells the story of this writer over one week. I don’t need another one like it!

The lesson: For me, when the commitment is made, I find time for the writing. I keep my notebook handy, my pencil sharp, and my mind engaged with the pieces I’m determined to write. Without a deadline and without readers on the horizon, I’m pretty sure it would be less enjoyable to cram writing into my days as I can. But when my schedule is full and my time is tight, that is often when the ideas flow fastest and the words stream onto the page. I feel lucky to be able to spend my time this way. Thanks for being on this writing path with me.

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Land acknowledgement: I respectfully recognize that I live on the original lands of Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation.