Have you every felt overwhelmed with all of your stuff, but didn't want to get rid of anything? For my grandmother, who grew up on the tail end of the Great Depression, throwing away something, getting rid of it, only happened when there was nothing left worth using. If there is a remote possibility that we might use said item, it stays. Same for sentimental items. My sister and I are a bit more heartless. What good is something if it's set in a plastic tub for five plus years? None. Yes, I still have trouble getting rid of my childhood keepsakes, but the truth is I am thirty years old and this stuff will never see the light of day! So why not let someone else enjoy it?
After moving "home" to help my grandmother after my grandfather passed away, we fit a three bedroom house into the already stuffed house I grew up in. Or at least we tried to. We had a garage sale, and got rid of anything that was easily replaceable. Everything else was put into the sheds or garage, after we fit everything we could possibly imagine into our own rooms. Top priorities were books, and computers. If I could do without my bed I would. My books are what was important. And yes, I was heartless and got rid of a bunch of them as well, even though I was crying on the inside.
After two years of living with the clutter, my sister and I have begun the Purge. Nearly half of the things I own are in storage of some kind. Our design style is opposite of my grandmother's, and we didn't want to force her to change anything, though we have slowly been introducing items into her décor. Still, there is so much stuff just sitting there. You never realize how much work it takes to keep a house clean until something gets out of hand. And it has, repeatedly over the last could of months. So as soon as the weather turned warm, we rolled up our sleeves and dug in. Every tub, ever shelf, every drawer and dark corner of the closet are being gone through for items to add to the sell pile. It is amazing what we are finding we can do without.
I had forgotten that I owned a lot of stuff. I thought a few days ago, "where did that mirror go?" And found the mirror in a box that had yet to be unpacked from the move (over two years ago), I had even forgotten that I had spray painted the gaudy gold plastic frame a nice blue. I hung it in my closet as a vanity mirror. But stuff like that has been happening the last few days. What good is something if you can't see it? If you forgot you even owned it? In the case of our abundant craft supplies, things have an expiration date. Maybe not literally, like canned foods, but markers dry out, so does paint and stamp pads. Fashion and fads change. So if we are going to use this stuff, it needs to be soon. Some stuff I would never use, but someone else might. So into the sell bins.
We hope we will make enough money on the yard sale, or as my sister has christened it, the Too Much Cool Stuff Sale, that we can pay off some of the medical bills and accompanying bills that have been adding up over the last year. In the struggle between Money vs. Donate, money wins. I just hope we can get this finished in our timeline. I am running on empty, physically and emotionally, and my ability to keep pushing through is being seriously tested.
I am taking a break from writing and editing, to read a bit when I am not working on the Purge... It is one of my few distressing activities. For the rest of you, I know I said an organized space helps write and de-cluttering can help the mind distress, but remember before you take on this kind of thing; It is always more than you planned. It will take more effort, more time, and probably more money than you thought. So find a friend, set a budget, and make a plan. The really trick is sticking to it!
As for me, The Purge continues! To my fellow writers, Write On!
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Oaky Ingenuity
I was thinking about knowledge and experience today. We are still working on the Purge and renovating our garage. Slowly but surely things are being crossed off the to-do list. Many things I am attempting for the first time. A new experience to add to my skills. My sister and I have a running joke about our home project adventures. We laugh saying, "We watch as few youtube videos, read a page or two from a book and think we can do anything!" We laugh because it's true. That's how we learned to prune our fruit trees after my grandfather passed away. That's how I learned to hang a new side door in the garage, and connect the new dryer vent.
We never think that we can't do something. It's more like, it isn't safe to do something. Like the electrical in the house. We are accident prone and tend to lose our tools in the middle of a project. Electricity is something I think I can do, but am smart enough to leave to the professionals.
As for anything else, well, we always say, "No, we can do that!" Especially when we see something in the store that is creative and expensive. We think our own creative natures are up to any challenge. We like to use what we've got, but we are also spend thrifts. With a bit more thrift in us. My grandmother calls it Oaky Ingenuity. The ability to look at something that needs to be done and use what you have, but perhaps not in the "right" way. My grandfather was a big believe in Oaky Ingenuity. He was originally from Oklahoma while my Grandmother was from Missouri. They know what they are talking about.
My grandfather was able to make anything work, without spending more than twenty dollars on something. At least in most situations. We always said he used the three B's: Bubblegum, baling wire and bobby pins. Later we added duct tape. After his death we couldn't get any of our three lawnmowers to start. It seemed they only worked for my grandfather. He probably has some strange trick he used to get them started and after his passed we were left in the dark. He never wrote anything down.
My sister and I get a bit of our creative problem solving from him. We make due, even if it doesn't always come out as we planned. He always made it work.
Instead of getting us dolls when we were little, be got us a tool set, and not one of those plastic fisher-price things. A real tool set... with a saw and C-claps and everything. He helped us build cradles for our baby dolls and stables for our Barbie horses. He thought us to do anything a guy could do and funded many a home project we had seen on This Old House, or later on HGTV.
These day's we don't have him to fall back on, and tend to spend more than is prudent. While we aren't afraid to go get what we need, we are good at using what we have and changing direction when a project doesn't go the way we planned.
I guess that the ability to shift gears, as it were, is not new, but I think it has to be learned.
I use it a lot in writing, maybe that's why I'm not done yet. When I hit a road block I usually shift to something else, another story or project, because I love to write and I have more stories in my head then I may ever finish, but stopping isn't going to happen. Maybe no one will ever read my books. Maybe they aren't anything new, but that isn't why I write. Yes, I'd like to make money writing, because it's something I love, and it takes a lot of time and effort, but I write for me. I love the sense of accomplishment when I finish a page, or a scene, or a chapter. I can't describe the feeling of finishing my first manuscript.
What better way to use what I've got, than to write it down!
Anyway, that is my ramblings for tonight. As ever, Write On!
We never think that we can't do something. It's more like, it isn't safe to do something. Like the electrical in the house. We are accident prone and tend to lose our tools in the middle of a project. Electricity is something I think I can do, but am smart enough to leave to the professionals.
As for anything else, well, we always say, "No, we can do that!" Especially when we see something in the store that is creative and expensive. We think our own creative natures are up to any challenge. We like to use what we've got, but we are also spend thrifts. With a bit more thrift in us. My grandmother calls it Oaky Ingenuity. The ability to look at something that needs to be done and use what you have, but perhaps not in the "right" way. My grandfather was a big believe in Oaky Ingenuity. He was originally from Oklahoma while my Grandmother was from Missouri. They know what they are talking about.
My grandfather was able to make anything work, without spending more than twenty dollars on something. At least in most situations. We always said he used the three B's: Bubblegum, baling wire and bobby pins. Later we added duct tape. After his death we couldn't get any of our three lawnmowers to start. It seemed they only worked for my grandfather. He probably has some strange trick he used to get them started and after his passed we were left in the dark. He never wrote anything down.
My sister and I get a bit of our creative problem solving from him. We make due, even if it doesn't always come out as we planned. He always made it work.
Instead of getting us dolls when we were little, be got us a tool set, and not one of those plastic fisher-price things. A real tool set... with a saw and C-claps and everything. He helped us build cradles for our baby dolls and stables for our Barbie horses. He thought us to do anything a guy could do and funded many a home project we had seen on This Old House, or later on HGTV.
These day's we don't have him to fall back on, and tend to spend more than is prudent. While we aren't afraid to go get what we need, we are good at using what we have and changing direction when a project doesn't go the way we planned.
I guess that the ability to shift gears, as it were, is not new, but I think it has to be learned.
I use it a lot in writing, maybe that's why I'm not done yet. When I hit a road block I usually shift to something else, another story or project, because I love to write and I have more stories in my head then I may ever finish, but stopping isn't going to happen. Maybe no one will ever read my books. Maybe they aren't anything new, but that isn't why I write. Yes, I'd like to make money writing, because it's something I love, and it takes a lot of time and effort, but I write for me. I love the sense of accomplishment when I finish a page, or a scene, or a chapter. I can't describe the feeling of finishing my first manuscript.
What better way to use what I've got, than to write it down!
Anyway, that is my ramblings for tonight. As ever, Write On!
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Editing through the Chaos
It is strange that editing is what I do in my quiet time right now. With the Purge still in full swing it's either editing or sleeping. I am trying to do more of the former, and not the latter.
I am still editing Ties of Fate. But I am also starting a new, well maybe not so new, story. I still have The Beast of the Ruin to finish editing and The Lost Prince to finish writing (Last Years NaNoWriMo project). I am behind schedule but not feeling too bad about it. Real life has interfered a good deal and I think that what I have done is still an accomplishment. Even keeping up with these posts has been something that I can mark off my list with pride.
Anyway, I wanted to talk a bit more about my editing style and things that help me edit. First, you should know that I am an "in print" kind of girl. I have probably mentioned this before, but I preferred to edit a printed copy. I like writing notes to myself in the margins. Yes, I know they have comments in the new word docs that are supper helpful, but this is just my preference. To each their own!
I've used Grammerly, an application, an add-on to word doc and it was very helpful, though I ignored a good number of its suggestions, overall it was money well spent and I may do the same again. There were multiple payment options, and the longer you used the app the cheaper each month was. I paid for only one month, because I knew that I wouldn't be using it long term. In one month I can go through my drafts with the program and not need more time. Grammerly in no way completed my draft for me, but it did get me a lot closer to the final edit. It was just as helpful as the friends I lent copies too, though on a sentence level kind of editing. Like a much better and more thorough spell check.
The hardest part of editing, at least for me, is getting in the mood, but I've found that waiting for the mood to hit me is useless. If I just sit down and start, I can look up an hour or a chapter later and marvel at how fast it's all going. Recently I took a draft with me while I did my laundry at the local laundry mat. (My washer and dryer are having issues.) As the wash cycle was doing it's thing I got some pages done. It really dose go by pretty fast once I get started. So don't wait for the right mood, or the right moment, take it with you and pull out your draft while you wait to pick up the kids, while you're stuck in the waiting room of the doctor's office. Soon that chapter will be done and then your whole draft!!
The next big step is to copy all of your edits and notes back into your word doc, and if you are one of the people who edit digitally then you are a giant step ahead, but I will take the redundancy. (As I mentioned before, I have lost a few drafts and don't mind the extra paper copies.) I go page by page and highlight the page number at the bottom as I complete that pages. It lets me know how far I have gotten and it keeps my place when the pages don't always line up. Some pages have little to no editing, then on the other hand, I am rewriting a whole scene that, more often than not, grows by several pages. What can I say... I'm long winded.
After this step is complete, which really never takes as long as I think, I give the draft to a friend or family member to read. And they give me feed back. I write them a little note and tell them what I want them to look for while reading. Whether it's grammar, organization, continuity, or voice, I try to have them edit for one or two things at a time because I will edit it again after I receive their comments and probably go through these steps two or three more times depending on just how much editing I do per round. For example, I had gone through several (at lest three rounds) by myself and had finally thought the draft was ready to give to a friend. My friend came back with some major issues for Ties of Fate. They were all good points that I hadn't noticed which was exactly why I had given this friend my draft. After editing it heavily, I gave the draft to my sister to read (again). Another round of editing ensued, and I am finally near an ending point. Still I will have my sister and friend read the... hum... "Final" draft, before moving this thing into print.
I have two free paperback copies thanks to NaNoWriMo and I am going to use them on this manuscript. So I better get back to work, I only have a few months to whip it out, and I say that as a professional procrastinator. Luckily my sister is in a similar situations, and keeps me apprised of our approaching deadline!
Good luck with your editing. If you have any tips or suggestions please comment!
To my fellow writers: WRITE ON!!!
I am still editing Ties of Fate. But I am also starting a new, well maybe not so new, story. I still have The Beast of the Ruin to finish editing and The Lost Prince to finish writing (Last Years NaNoWriMo project). I am behind schedule but not feeling too bad about it. Real life has interfered a good deal and I think that what I have done is still an accomplishment. Even keeping up with these posts has been something that I can mark off my list with pride.
Anyway, I wanted to talk a bit more about my editing style and things that help me edit. First, you should know that I am an "in print" kind of girl. I have probably mentioned this before, but I preferred to edit a printed copy. I like writing notes to myself in the margins. Yes, I know they have comments in the new word docs that are supper helpful, but this is just my preference. To each their own!
I've used Grammerly, an application, an add-on to word doc and it was very helpful, though I ignored a good number of its suggestions, overall it was money well spent and I may do the same again. There were multiple payment options, and the longer you used the app the cheaper each month was. I paid for only one month, because I knew that I wouldn't be using it long term. In one month I can go through my drafts with the program and not need more time. Grammerly in no way completed my draft for me, but it did get me a lot closer to the final edit. It was just as helpful as the friends I lent copies too, though on a sentence level kind of editing. Like a much better and more thorough spell check.
The hardest part of editing, at least for me, is getting in the mood, but I've found that waiting for the mood to hit me is useless. If I just sit down and start, I can look up an hour or a chapter later and marvel at how fast it's all going. Recently I took a draft with me while I did my laundry at the local laundry mat. (My washer and dryer are having issues.) As the wash cycle was doing it's thing I got some pages done. It really dose go by pretty fast once I get started. So don't wait for the right mood, or the right moment, take it with you and pull out your draft while you wait to pick up the kids, while you're stuck in the waiting room of the doctor's office. Soon that chapter will be done and then your whole draft!!
The next big step is to copy all of your edits and notes back into your word doc, and if you are one of the people who edit digitally then you are a giant step ahead, but I will take the redundancy. (As I mentioned before, I have lost a few drafts and don't mind the extra paper copies.) I go page by page and highlight the page number at the bottom as I complete that pages. It lets me know how far I have gotten and it keeps my place when the pages don't always line up. Some pages have little to no editing, then on the other hand, I am rewriting a whole scene that, more often than not, grows by several pages. What can I say... I'm long winded.
After this step is complete, which really never takes as long as I think, I give the draft to a friend or family member to read. And they give me feed back. I write them a little note and tell them what I want them to look for while reading. Whether it's grammar, organization, continuity, or voice, I try to have them edit for one or two things at a time because I will edit it again after I receive their comments and probably go through these steps two or three more times depending on just how much editing I do per round. For example, I had gone through several (at lest three rounds) by myself and had finally thought the draft was ready to give to a friend. My friend came back with some major issues for Ties of Fate. They were all good points that I hadn't noticed which was exactly why I had given this friend my draft. After editing it heavily, I gave the draft to my sister to read (again). Another round of editing ensued, and I am finally near an ending point. Still I will have my sister and friend read the... hum... "Final" draft, before moving this thing into print.
I have two free paperback copies thanks to NaNoWriMo and I am going to use them on this manuscript. So I better get back to work, I only have a few months to whip it out, and I say that as a professional procrastinator. Luckily my sister is in a similar situations, and keeps me apprised of our approaching deadline!
Good luck with your editing. If you have any tips or suggestions please comment!
To my fellow writers: WRITE ON!!!
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
THE PURGE
IT HAS BEGUN!!!
We are currently organizing our garage. Partially because the area was full of stuff with little more than a path out the main door, and partially because it is that time of year again. To me, Spring equals cleaning which also means yard sale! In my yearly years our family would have a major yard sale each spring, but as I got older I have tended towards donating rather than selling. Yard sales are hard work. Not only do you need to collect the items you wish to sell, you need to clean them and showcase them to advantage in order to make money. Anything we don't sell is going straight to donate and not back into our house (or garage).
The PURGE began as a simple clean out with areas marked for sell, donate, keep and garbage, like all good organizers tell you to do. As we pulled everything out of the space we decided to renovate! Nothing major. We had a good number of the items already. The major project, the one that we hate above all others, is painting and we have painted almost everything; shelves and walls, more shelves and more walls. The walls are old and haven't been painted since they were put up so they have not been easy to paint. We decided to just use Kiltz primer on everything and call it done. White equals clean. Right?
But of course we couldn't stop there. We have, for some time, wanted to convert the garage into a den, really a large craft room. We are unable to afford something that big right now, but we already have the modular shelving units fro IKEA (my favorite store), countertops that we used as desks during my teenage years, and a bunch of rolling plastic bins. Not to mentions the numerous tubs full of craft supplies that haven't seen the light of day in almost a decade. Well, as you can guess, a job we thought might take three or four days has taken a week and a half and we are still not done, thought our energy only lasted a few days into the project.
We started saying, "well if we are going to do this... we should do that too, and if we are going to do that... then we need to do this first..." And so on. We've filled a large shed, cleaned out the small one, have a pile to sell that looks like a small mountain and the garage still isn't put back together.
It may not look it, but there is organized chaos. These pictures are a few days old, though I can't say that it is looking any better. I can not wait for this too be over... But for now...
The PURGE continues!
We are currently organizing our garage. Partially because the area was full of stuff with little more than a path out the main door, and partially because it is that time of year again. To me, Spring equals cleaning which also means yard sale! In my yearly years our family would have a major yard sale each spring, but as I got older I have tended towards donating rather than selling. Yard sales are hard work. Not only do you need to collect the items you wish to sell, you need to clean them and showcase them to advantage in order to make money. Anything we don't sell is going straight to donate and not back into our house (or garage).
The PURGE began as a simple clean out with areas marked for sell, donate, keep and garbage, like all good organizers tell you to do. As we pulled everything out of the space we decided to renovate! Nothing major. We had a good number of the items already. The major project, the one that we hate above all others, is painting and we have painted almost everything; shelves and walls, more shelves and more walls. The walls are old and haven't been painted since they were put up so they have not been easy to paint. We decided to just use Kiltz primer on everything and call it done. White equals clean. Right?
But of course we couldn't stop there. We have, for some time, wanted to convert the garage into a den, really a large craft room. We are unable to afford something that big right now, but we already have the modular shelving units fro IKEA (my favorite store), countertops that we used as desks during my teenage years, and a bunch of rolling plastic bins. Not to mentions the numerous tubs full of craft supplies that haven't seen the light of day in almost a decade. Well, as you can guess, a job we thought might take three or four days has taken a week and a half and we are still not done, thought our energy only lasted a few days into the project.
We started saying, "well if we are going to do this... we should do that too, and if we are going to do that... then we need to do this first..." And so on. We've filled a large shed, cleaned out the small one, have a pile to sell that looks like a small mountain and the garage still isn't put back together.
The PURGE continues!
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