Epic Wednesday – Of Writing and Gardening
The Ruon Chronicles, Where the Stars Used to Sing, and Starting my Garden Afresh (which also has to do with writing in a way)
Hello again!
It’s been a bit of a crazy week so far. I once again realised just how tiring grocery shopping can be, but I had coffee with my sister on Monday as well and we did our shopping together, so that made it much better!
Writing news
Yesterday after work I picked up the outline for The Ruon Chronicles again after a few days and pondering this specific part of book one. I ended up only outlining two chapters, so I am not finished with the whole outline like I had wanted to be on 30 September.
However, onward with the outline! It’s a great feeling to see how everything is coming together, and there are a few friends who will read through the whole outline just to check for any plotholes I may have missed. But being busy writing the last of the stories for Where the Stars Used to Sing doesn’t make me feel like September has been unproductive because I didn’t finish the whole outline.
I did realise that I will need to change one of the zoomed-in maps that I had initially made for Chronicles’ book one slightly to make the route the characters take make sense. I’d rather do that than have readers go ‘You stupid guy, just go north!’. (Not a spoiler.)
I’ve also decided to share some of the character sheets here for Epic Wednesdays. Obviously, they won’t contain spoilers, but they will give you an idea of the story that’s on its way.
Where the Stars Used to Sing is coming along great, though. Some of the stories have turned into short stories and not flash fiction – but at least none have turned into a novel!
The sketches I’m busy with for the collection are also coming along slowly but surely. I haven’t really drawn since matric art, so I’m really having to get back into it!
Part of the inspiration for the stories (which started with an idea that exploded a bit), is Matt Hires’ song “Wishing on Dead Stars”. Not so much the whole song as the line “We were only wishing on dead stars”. It’s weird how you can listen to a song so many times and then, one day, your brain just goes “Eureka!” and suddenly have ideas for five stories.
Here’s the song:
Of Gardening and Pondering
Spring is well under way over here, showing off my favourite shades of green. While I usually have a difficult time in September (most likely because of SAD, the doc said), but this year – thanks to a slight change in my meds, I am feeling much better. Not manic, don’t worry, just feeling like myself and actually seeing colours. It’s difficult to explain, so I’ll just leave it there.
My point is that I’ve had a lot more energy to do things around the house – like making my bare garden look like something again. It’s a long story why it looked like half a desert. Being in the depression part of my bipolar just didn’t help things along.
So anyway, it’s the spring sale at my local garden centre (yay!) and I go and get a few plants and pots (there’s now lavender, vygies, spekboom, honey marguerite, and geraniums). This wasn’t all on one day, mind…
I also replanted my cacti (I’ll tell the cacti’s saga on another day) and Christmas cacti (I think that’s their English name…) and gave them some compost, poor things. Anyway, so with the potting and the planting and watering every morning, I’ve rediscovered how lovely gardening is. I also discovered how good watering plants are for mind plotting stories!
The garden is mostly pots at the moment, but the yesterday, today and tomorrows are in full bloom and My Tree (it’s official name), though also sometimes referred to as Treebeard, is filled with weaver nests.
Currently I’m busy filling my kitchen’s window ledge with flowers (happiness!) and am about to start on some seeds for a herb garden (hold thumbs that they grow!).
But, mostly, I’m surprised that “normal” people feel like this basically the whole time – not depressed, I mean. I’m making as much of this time as I can especially since I’m still working from home.
Anyway, let me get back to my writing!
Have a great week further and stay safe!
Love,
Carin
PS. A few photos of the garden…