Saturday, May 23, 2020

Writing with Dev: Part 10

I have  to write for five minutes non-stop. I have been sitting at this computer for far too long this week, so once this blog post and Dev class is over I'm going to lie on the couch and watch a movie. Heaven knows which movie I'll be watching, but I just need to be not at this chair and at this computer typling away.

It's been too long a day. I was up early, ran down to get a coffee from Soul Origin, then school started at 9 am. I'm beginning to see just how hard writing a novel really is - it's writing and rewriting and just getting on with it and its a pain in the neck. I'm just glad I have eight other people in with me, who are all lovely, to help keep me going. We're keeping each other going. It's a great class. We're all writing such different things. I got some really good feedback on the piece I did last week - some of the best writing I've ever done - but I want to get better. I suppose this is the great thing about this. And getting feedback on your work is always good too. It just means people are considering what you're writing and this is a huge thing. And we're all improving. And that is so good to see. It's like what Dev says, writing is a muscle you need to exercise. I do this with my blog as well - it's all about being consistent.

As the 30 day song challenge finished today I'll have to go back to finding my own songs.

Now for some writing about camping or holidays. Ten Minutes. 

Okay, I don't camp. Maybe my character from my novel goes camping.

The map said to go left. He went right. Is it my fault that I'm ambidextrous and can't tell the difference as to where we were going. Left and right are half foreign concepts to me so yeah, we were seven kilometres down the road before we worked out we weren't on the main road.

He bought the Toyota Hilux, named Mavis, from some Belgian hippies who had just been around Australia. I was sceptical about this as the amount of rust was awful. He'd taken his little camera to the viewing but never got the photos developed - so I didn't get a right of reply. He just brought Mavis home.

On her maiden run, I'd prepared a picnic basket that could sit in the back seat and we could have lunch wherever the mood took up. Sandwiches, soft drink and some prawn salad were put in a small esky with a chiller brick. If I'd known we were going up to the mountains I'd probably have left the esky at home. The Hilux had no heating. Maybe it just needed a fuse replaced, but I snuggled under a blanket hoping we'd get somewhere soon.

He'd packed the tent as well. He seemed to think that I would be happy about this. No. I don't do tents. Never have done tents, never will do tents. It wasn't the kind of holiday I wanted. So when he suggested going to this campside, surrounded by trees and near a river, I started to cry. I was cold, hungry, bored and well over nature by this time. See, I have always hated camping. He'd always loved camping. I had not against him going with some friends, but he should have left me out of the equation.

I tried to tell me that campfires were romantic. He thought that waking up under the stars was a romantic thing to do. He was enamoured with the thrill of catching his own food - I didn't see the fishing lines in the back of the car, nor did I realise that when I was heading to Lake Eildon, that this is what I wantered to do.

He should have shone a lantern on his plans before we left - but no, I wanted me, bitching, moaning, city-girl me, to come and go camping and fishing again.

I looked at the map again. If I was better at lying, and doing the left and right thing, maybe, just maybe, I could have navigated us back to town.


Writing done for the day.


Today's Song: Brought to you by the 30 Day Song Challenge

Day 30: A song that reminds you of yourself


No comments: