IWSG December 7: Winter Doldrums?

We have another 6-8 inches of snow coming tomorrow, roads are slick and mostly unploughed, and yet, temperatures are closer to freezing today and tomorrow instead of the low teens. Celebrate the wintry moment! This is the time of year that I like to huddle in my office, cold fingers poised over the keyboard for that next scene, preferably set in some warmer clime.

Yesterday was a milestone: my 79th birthday. I feel so grateful to have reached this age (my mother died at 55), and I can report that health issues are few, family is nearby, we've downsized and are happy in our little apartment. True, the view outside is mostly white, with about a foot of snow on nearby roofs. We leave for Las Cruces, New Mexico, late January, for a leisurely drive south, and I'm ready to hit the road, writing projects organized, research materials as close as the internet (and a box of books).

This month, the Insecure Writer's Suppport Group asks us to consider this question? Are the holidays a time to catch up or fall behind on writer goals?

Well, I'm not sure. I do set goals each month, and I am making steady progress, but . . . that major writing project has hit a little snag. I wrote a scene where Neil takes Sandra to meet his parents. But they weren't nice to her, and I didn't like the scene at all. I think that scene is gone. It doesn't contribute anything to the actual story. Maybe knowing when to cut words is a good thing. I want to write stories that look beneath the surface and yet that bring joy to the reader. So, I'm happily back to plotting and drafting. Not always in that order.

The essence of IWSG's question is when are we writers working on our writing? I do think we're working whether we're actively putting words on the paper OR we're out for a walk, slipping on that wintry snow -- and an insight comes to us as we see the last of the Canada geese heading south. 

So, I say cherish the moment, every moment. Keep your characters close. New scenes may come to us when we're dreaming at night or daydreaming. In the words of Rick Bylina, write on!

Please join me in thanking the generous co-hosts for this December 7 posting of the IWSG: Joylene Nowell Butler, Chemist Ken, Natalie Aguirre, Nancy Gideon, and Cathrina Constantine! Why not pay them a visit -- and stop by other IWSG writers who've posted this month. You can find them HERE.

May this December bring you new words, good revision, and/or whatever your writing heart desires!

More about Mathinna

I wrote about Mathinna's history last April. This evocative painting of her by Thomas Bock calls me back again and again, and so today I put the unveiling of this portrait in my story, Years of Stone, set in Tasmania in 1842.

But writing is never so simple. Sometimes there are surprises.

Right now I'm revising Years of Stone, rereading and revising, and yet feeling like progress is very slow. I read a note from Rick Bylina this morning who is cutting back on his social 'platform' to free up more time for writing. His cry: Write on! His personal challenge: 500 words a day.

So I thought perhaps I should just try this and write my 500 words.

I began by blocking the scene of a soiree at Government House because it was incomplete. I listed the characters, their potential motivations and conflicts, and then set the scene as Deidre looks at this painting of Mathinna, just unveiled.

Now, of course, I had to go look at the painting again. Here's the surprise. Notice that oval surrounding Mathinna. There's rather an apocryphal story about Australian author Richard Flanagan being inspired by the painting of Mathinna, seen first in a storage room at a museum. The image here is unframed, but if the painting were framed in a typical oval frame, Mathinna's bare feet would be hidden. Ha!

Former convict painter Thomas Bock, truly celebrated today for his insightful early paintings of aboriginals, and popular in the 1830s until his death in 1855 for his portraits of the wealthy, gave us quite a gift. A picture of the essential Mathinna.

Here's the scene that resulted:

Deidre drew closer to the framed, formal painting. Mathinna’s expressive dark eyes looked back at her, forever six years old, a plaintive half-smile on her lips, hands clasped, as Deidre had never seen her,  Mathinna, sitting quietly, no possum nearby.

“What do you think of it?” asked Thomas Bock, his high dome forehead catching the light from the chandeliers above.

“It’s certainly very true to her nature,” replied Deidre. “She seems wistful.”

“Ah, she didn’t want to sit still.”  Bock gestured at the painting. “She wanted to have her little pet painted as well, but Lady Franklin did not approve. So, we made a concession. She was to sit still, and I was to paint her bare feet, but outside the oval of the formal portrait. I wish you could see the whole painting.”

Deidre looked at the painting again and tried to imagine Mathinna's bare feet peeking out from her beloved red dress. With the ornate oval frame, that essential symbol of her freedom and her exuberance hidden, Mathinna was fixed in time, proper and sedate. “It’s still a remarkable painting.”

Source of image: Wikipedia

Guest blogger at Rick's . . .

I'm a guest blogger this Friday at Rick Bylina's blog. The link:

"Up Against the Wall, Baby!"

If you're working on a massive writing project, you may find using "the wall" another way to stay organized and to keep those words flowing.

Thank you, Rick, for your interest in writing and kindness to me. And, as Rick would say, "Writers write!" So write on, and may your writing go well!