Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” ― Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

There was this…

And then there was this…

And this too…

The Quick Chicken (The Doings that help me with the Being):

• Yoga/Meditation: 3/7
• Active Fun: 3 Walks…. and the messing about in boats…
• Write: 6/7  AND NEWS… SUCH NEWS…. See below
  
• Play Music:  2/7

THIS WEEK’S EXPERIMENT:

Twas all about the NIP… The mission was to GO IN and STAY IN…Until I came out the other side….

The Result:

I DID IT!!!!!

Yesterday, around 11:30AM I typed….

~fin~

I do believe I have completed a first draft of my Novel In Progress – Sanctuary.

Much work to do, of course… but I have gotten all the way to the end.  HUZZAH!

Now… will I manage to …um… tidy it up ENOUGH to give it to my trusted First Reader by Wednesday…. we will see… we will see…

THE Hard BITS:

• bitta bitta bitta BUNCH of worry early in the week that there was no WAY I would get through to “the end” of the hip nip this week.
• another friend of the family crossed over to the other shore this week.  The funeral today was lovely… but the heart aches.
• bit… tired, physically.

THE good BITS:

• More fishing with friends and… I caught one! I caught one!  He was a pretty as pie pickerel and The Raggedy Man convinced me to set him free instead of taking him home to the frying pan.  It was a wonderful night out on Borden Lake.
• A visitor from the Westlands.
• Sunny sun sun sun.
• Rain enough for cooling.
• Another fun trip up (or is it down?) the river.
• A wonderful gifty.
• And yes yes yesssssss – the work that took me through to the end of the story… giving me a full draft to work with.  It was a few long pushes (Saturday and Sunday) and then the steady work hours through the week.  I had one day “off” this week…. it blurs…it blurs… but HEY – WE DID IT!!! Huzzah. (we being me and the characters).

AND THIS is The Thing that needs Baking In MOST:

I do believe I shall just REVEL in the completion of this draft….

This morning I was already making notes for scenes that I need to slip in…. and I know I will dive straight back in tomorrow and begin a quick “tidy up” – but for today I will…

BASK.

Next Week’s Playful CHALLENGE?

I can’t quite let the NIP go to rest yet… because my first reader is… HERE… and is moving off into the world again on WEDNESDAY so… the wee challenge of the week is…

Get this lumpy bumpy draft into shape to share with him.

If I can.

One day I will have to talk about the importance of choosing your First Reader (or Alpha Reader or whatever you like to call the person who sees your work before anyone else).  It is an incredibly important support to have as a writer and it takes a special kind of person with a special kind of EYE and EAR and MIND.

I am blessed with a good one.

And for this I say “Thank Ye Thank Ye!” to the Goddess of Writing.

~~~~

That’s it for me.  The river calls us to more fun.

Wishing you

laughter, love and adventure.

And to start us all off…one more quote from Mr. Grahame….

Take the adventure, heed the call, now ere the irrevocable moment passes! ‘Tis but a banging of the door behind you, a blithesome step forward, and you are out of your old life and into the new!
― Kenneth Grahame

Thanks for stopping by.

go easy

~p

In homage to Havi’s Friday Chickens over on the The Fluent Self — This is the place I review my week – in an attempt to track some things – like progress on my novel and… living intentionally. I shake out my week and lay it out. Let the hard burn off and the good sink in. Call it an experiment in paying attention.

Comments are cherished here. Discussion is adored. If you’d rather talk in private – drop me a line.