Fall is a busy time in my garden. It is all about taking stock of what worked and what needs changing. All the Tuscan Rosemary plants are mature and larger in scale than I imagined they would be. I have to decide if the dwarf boxwoods planted between each rosemary plant will need a new home. Since I am a beginning gardener and this is the fourth year for the garden many of the plants are reaching their stride, and need space to spread out. Big sigh, first time gardeners learn from experience.
And yes, when something works it is spectacular! The four year old Italian plum tree has, for the first time, produced a bumper crop of luscious purple fruit. And this is because of pruning and three series of dormant spraying at just the right time.
Writing is also about taking stock of what works and what needs to be edited. Self editing is a necessary task for any writer. Learning to cut out whole scenes takes courage; especially if the scene is well written but simply not working for the plot line. I have a “cut’s file” for each manuscript and this is where anything I edit out, ends up. Do not, repeat, do not, edit and throw away scenes. You may surprise yourself and find a use for that scene, or a variation of it, later on; or you may need the idea for an entirely different manuscript. Good ideas, well written are gems to be saved.
Not unlike the plants in my garden. Beautiful plants may need to be moved, need to be saved. And given a new place to thrive they will give back their beauty.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Summer may officially be over, but please don’t tell my garden this! Finally, and I do mean finally, we have decent temperatures. The vegetable garden is on a roll to make up for lost sunshine. This is a catch twenty two for me.
Early morning is the best time to get out and tackle the garden chores while temperatures are cool. Early mornings are my best time to write. Mmmmmm. So I compromise and get up earlier like 5 am and either read for research purposes, or tackle a new scene. At 8 am I head outside and trim, pull weeds, dig up iris bulbs, and a myriad of other tasks.
Noon it’s lunch, a quick shower and maybe a trip to the grocery store or the garden store. Back home I sit down with a cool glass of tea and review what I wrote in the wee hours of the morning. More reading and time to prepare dinner. After that I usually return to my research and writing.
And of course every writer knows all of the best intentions get submarined by real life. Big sigh here. The main thought to hold on to is this. Each word you put down on paper leads you to another word, and another, and on and on. It’s like gardening. It changes. The best you can do is pay attention and do a little each day.
My favorite nature event for this month- all the pollywogs in the fountain pool hatched and transformed themselves into dozens of tiny iridescent green tree frogs!
Early morning is the best time to get out and tackle the garden chores while temperatures are cool. Early mornings are my best time to write. Mmmmmm. So I compromise and get up earlier like 5 am and either read for research purposes, or tackle a new scene. At 8 am I head outside and trim, pull weeds, dig up iris bulbs, and a myriad of other tasks.
Noon it’s lunch, a quick shower and maybe a trip to the grocery store or the garden store. Back home I sit down with a cool glass of tea and review what I wrote in the wee hours of the morning. More reading and time to prepare dinner. After that I usually return to my research and writing.
And of course every writer knows all of the best intentions get submarined by real life. Big sigh here. The main thought to hold on to is this. Each word you put down on paper leads you to another word, and another, and on and on. It’s like gardening. It changes. The best you can do is pay attention and do a little each day.
My favorite nature event for this month- all the pollywogs in the fountain pool hatched and transformed themselves into dozens of tiny iridescent green tree frogs!
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