24 hours from now...
I will be coasting up the Pacific Northwest headed toward Seattle. We're caravaning, most likely with my beast as the "gear boat." They arrive in Eureka this evening, and we may or may not have dinner and chat, depending on how the drive has treated them so far. Tomorrow morning I meet them at the hotel and off we go.
Coincidentally, Tolley is also on his way to Idaho, so I offered him the co-pilot spot to Seattle. It'll be nice to have his company on the drive; he's pretty good at "eddy hopping"* both on and off river and can keep me from wallowing in my anxieties. At this point I'm way more excited than anything, but I know my mental cycles pretty well by now. Probably about Portland I'll decide I'm ready to turn around and go home. Its at that point that I'll make him to drive. :-)
So far nothing is officially packed -- I have bags, I have boxes, and I have piles (the "going," the "staying," and the "dirty") I have my kayaking gear, riding boots and bike all in one general area. I picked up these huge rubbermaid storage bins for transporting said "Stuff" and Klaatu still has my computer -- windows updates and security patches galore. I need to run to the co-op for healthy goodies and pick up my giant comforter from the cleaners.
I have re-read the pre-Clarion packet for the umpteeth time (you know the one that discourages "online journaling," encourages the making of mistakes and advises use of the phrase "ditto" instead of endless repetition of the same comment during critiques, hereafter known as CRITS) I am repacking my CD's for the drive, making last minute mixes of music to write by and am fully aware that I will forget many things I intended to bring.
Which is why I'm glad I'm spending six weeks in Seattle instead of on the far side of the moon -- there are probably more stores in UDistrict than in Eureka/Arcata altogether. I still feel the need to bring everything I own.
Last night I STARTED packing, then got "stuck" in a folder of story ideas and beginnings that have not found middles or endings (and an ending or two that has nowhere to start, how'jda like that?) Some of it was promising, some ridiculous, some just made me smile at the way my writing has progressed since I was filling up notebooks with 100s of pages of college rule paper full of multi colored scribble.
I even found the original handwritten manuscript for "The Archangel and The Windwitch" (now Daughter of Heaven) which was absolutely delightful to see how two rewrites later my first novel has leaped forward without any guidance but my own progression as a writer. Still needs work (a lot), but hopefully I can come back from Clarion and look at all my writing with new eyes. I am resisting the temptation to bring already worked on stuff. I want to start fresh, put myself under that little bit of pressure of not having anything cooking. Who knows what I can do if I can let go of what's already done -- if only temporarily. Another step in the journey begins tomorrow.
I am SO READY for this.
I think.
*the practice of getting through a series of complex rapids by hopping from eddy (the still circulating water outside the rapid) between each one.
Coincidentally, Tolley is also on his way to Idaho, so I offered him the co-pilot spot to Seattle. It'll be nice to have his company on the drive; he's pretty good at "eddy hopping"* both on and off river and can keep me from wallowing in my anxieties. At this point I'm way more excited than anything, but I know my mental cycles pretty well by now. Probably about Portland I'll decide I'm ready to turn around and go home. Its at that point that I'll make him to drive. :-)
So far nothing is officially packed -- I have bags, I have boxes, and I have piles (the "going," the "staying," and the "dirty") I have my kayaking gear, riding boots and bike all in one general area. I picked up these huge rubbermaid storage bins for transporting said "Stuff" and Klaatu still has my computer -- windows updates and security patches galore. I need to run to the co-op for healthy goodies and pick up my giant comforter from the cleaners.
I have re-read the pre-Clarion packet for the umpteeth time (you know the one that discourages "online journaling," encourages the making of mistakes and advises use of the phrase "ditto" instead of endless repetition of the same comment during critiques, hereafter known as CRITS) I am repacking my CD's for the drive, making last minute mixes of music to write by and am fully aware that I will forget many things I intended to bring.
Which is why I'm glad I'm spending six weeks in Seattle instead of on the far side of the moon -- there are probably more stores in UDistrict than in Eureka/Arcata altogether. I still feel the need to bring everything I own.
Last night I STARTED packing, then got "stuck" in a folder of story ideas and beginnings that have not found middles or endings (and an ending or two that has nowhere to start, how'jda like that?) Some of it was promising, some ridiculous, some just made me smile at the way my writing has progressed since I was filling up notebooks with 100s of pages of college rule paper full of multi colored scribble.
I even found the original handwritten manuscript for "The Archangel and The Windwitch" (now Daughter of Heaven) which was absolutely delightful to see how two rewrites later my first novel has leaped forward without any guidance but my own progression as a writer. Still needs work (a lot), but hopefully I can come back from Clarion and look at all my writing with new eyes. I am resisting the temptation to bring already worked on stuff. I want to start fresh, put myself under that little bit of pressure of not having anything cooking. Who knows what I can do if I can let go of what's already done -- if only temporarily. Another step in the journey begins tomorrow.
I am SO READY for this.
I think.
*the practice of getting through a series of complex rapids by hopping from eddy (the still circulating water outside the rapid) between each one.
posted by Eddie at 6:38 AM
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