Renovating, Writing…Same Thing?

We bought our house 8 years ago and immediately had plans. Let me add here that our home was great, but we wanted to do a few updates to the house.

Standing inside our empty home, we didn’t worry about where the furniture would be placed. That was easy and it would be easy to move it around if we didn’t like it (love the furniture disk, slides so easy).

Instead, we decided what we wanted to change. The order in which we would make these changes and just how quickly we’d get them done. By the end of year two everything inside and out should be finished.

Several of those items are still on the list.

It’s been eight years this month.

You know the saying, life happens or life got in the way or anyone of those life moment things. All true, life did get in the way. Jobs changed which caused the daily flow of our household to change. Surroundings and worker peeps within the job changed. We changed churches, which brought on more change. So yeah, life happened.

Two months ago, Science Guy and I decided to do the back yard and get that item checked off the list. Easy enough. We got a few quotes, I picked out the pavers (love them), and the fencing we were putting around the pavers. We bought an amazing grill cover/hut and we’ll finally be able to put up the canopy for the outside dining area. We had dates and deadlines and it was all going to be done in two, no more than three weeks.

That was six weeks ago, and it’s still not quite finished. We are now shooting for July 4^th weekend. It’s going to be beautiful.

Oh yeah, the writing part. You open that blank page and begin. You’re not worried about the placement of the scenes. You plotted them out and you know where they are going to land. At least in this first draft.

And then it happens. Things change. You realize that your character can’t do this or that until much later in the story. Or perhaps it won’t work at all unless you order more fencing (I mean add more to the scene). You may find out that you’ll need to change or cut out an idea to make everything work.

But when you’re finished. When you walk out on those beautiful pavers or finish those edits and it’s really the end you can sit back and smile and know that all the hard work has paid off.

 

Writing Wishes and Plotting Dreams,

Vicki

Time

Time.

The definition says it's the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present and future regarded as a whole. A point of time as measured in hours and minutes past midnight or noon.

Without time, all who wander might actually be lost. Today time represents both the past and the future.

It's been forever since I attended a TARA (Tampa Area Romance Authors), meeting. Life, as they say, had definitely got in the way of my writing. Or so I liked to tell myself. Reality was I let it slide. Sure, I thought about it. Even opened my wip and added a bit here or there. But I didn't write the way that writers write, the way I used to write. I wasn't in my office at 5:00am before work, or in there after work until late into the night. Nope, I'd somewhat decided that just maybe I wouldn't ever do it again.

My heart and soul had other plans. What I've learned is that if you're truly a writer, your character will not let you completely go. They may take a vaca with you, but eventually they are going to start waking you up in the middle of the night, talking to you while you're at work (be really careful not to talk back to them out loud, people will wonder), and any place they think they'll breakthrough for a moment.

Then today happened. I'd rejoined RWA 3 months ago. I had my PRO status back in place and I beautiful new office area (thank you to my Science Guy), and it was time. Time to go home. To go back to the place where I knew I could talk to others like me. Who would be glad to see me and who would totally understand hearing voices was always a crazy thing.

I was going to be late. Maybe I should just wait until next month. But hadn't I already used that excuse? Walking in late meant everyone would see me. For those of you who know me I know what you're thinking. This girl isn't shy and if people see her then she'll be fine. But today was different. It wasn't about me. I wasn't the president, heck I wasn't even a member anymore. I was person who would interrupt the meeting. Do get where my head was going??? I was going to wait for a better "time".

Science Guy looked at me and said, "It's going to be great. Have fun and join when you get home." I love him. He knows me so well.

So, there I went. I walked in to the business meeting. Whew, that was great. Sure people were talking, but I hadn't walked in during the speaker, Lori Sanders Foley's, presentation.

And just like that I was home. Time was once again moving in my world. You see I am a writer and this group, these women, some who I've never met and some who I've known for years, they are my people and time has seen fit to bring us together again.

Vicki