Blogger: Deborah
Music: the hum of a nearby furnace
Quote of the day:
"What in heck am I doing in Maine?"
by Deborah Johnson Wood
by Deborah Johnson Wood
Hi All,
I finally made it to Maine! I took the fish by the gills and made it happen. I thought I would be writing, writing, writing while out here, but I got so burned out just getting my writing-for-hire done before I left that I haven't felt like writing at all. Now, four days here and I feel like getting cranked up.
I'm staying in a 600-square-foot cottage on a peninsula that juts into the Atlantic. It's quiet and comfy. No Internet access. No phone, except my cell which has intermittent reception. One channel on the TV--I can HEAR the news, but I can't see it. NPR on the radio.
Yesterday I drove 80 miles to find an Internet connection because the library which is just seven miles away wasn't open. Went to the library today and picked up a flyer for a new Internet and research library at the Eagle Hill Natural History Study and Resource Center http://www.eaglehill.us/ on Dyer Bay--it's on the same peninsula (Petit Manan) as my cottage, and only eight miles away. It's open every night until nine. Larry, you'd be in heaven here.
This place is waaaaay back in the boonies via dirt two-track. A complex of cedar-shake-sided buildings. I'm sitting alone in the library/gallery, surrounded by original Maine nature art. A chandelier hangs from the middle of the unfinished ceiling, and to my left is a GIANT fireplace (not burning right now) of Maine rocks.
And the books? How about Buddhism & Science, Dragonflies and Damselflies, Darwin's Orchestra, Gulls of the Americas, Horns and Beaks--Ceratopsian and Ornithopid Dinosaurs, Science and Conservation of Vernal Pools in Northeastern North America, and the ever popular Up River, The Story of a Maine Fishing Community (which is actually QUITE a cool book!)?
I need to write. I need to write. But the idea that whatever I write won't be good enough (a good quote from Sylvia Plath, BTW) has stopped me. This blog is "getting the cork out" and I plan to tackle at least something before I go home.
My plan is to start building a new blog site tonight. I want to write about the stories I'm uncovering in West Michigan -- stories on development and growth, stories that promote the state, stories that mix my love of God and the love of West Michigan, stories that push back on the negativity in the news. I report good news every week -- in fact, I have so much of it that my desk is overflowing with stories of growth, jobs, investment, and all of it about growth that doesn't promote urban sprawl, promotes green and sustainable building, and works to provide income and spur the economy.
The people who are making the growth happen are beating down my door (or at least my telephone and my email) to tell me their stories because other media is giving it cursory coverage, or none at all.
Having said all that... here are a couple more shots of Maine, and then I'm off to create my new blog site. I need a catchy name for it -- something about "urban" or "growth" or "life in the not-so-big city." Any ideas?
These fish mongers set up shop alongside the road everywhere. The owner of this one said he had 11 licenses to do business by the roadside. Below is a shot of Mason Bay (my son's name is Mason, so I couldn't come home without a photo of "his" bay, the one I didn't know existed until yesterday).
Deborah
3 comments:
Deborah,
I love the pictures--and totally envy you the time to write, and dream and drive and sleep. I also am very proud of you for going after your dream. You rock!
I wonder (and please, I wonder and ask but do not want to offend, so please don't be offended) when I listen to you talking about how burned out you are, if writing for a living would be all I imagine it to be. I mean, there are days (lots of them) when I wish I had all day to write. But, then I hear you talk about the hours and hours of time and work writing--so much so that you don't have time for Glen Lake or for your "own" writing and I think maybe I wouldn't really like HAVING to write for a living. I mean, I guess I've come to the realization that I might be thinking the grass is greener on the other side, when, in fact, it is the same old grass.
So is it? The same grass? Or is that the kind of question that each person can only answer for him/herself?
Anyway, eat some great sea food for me, and write.
Deborah;
One of my greatest loves in high school was named Deborah--but then that's a whole other story. Who do you write for? Sounds like stuff I'd like to read.
Sounds like just the kind of place I'd like. We're way off the road, but I still hear the whine of tires. Hope you get lots accomplished or at least ideas for future stories. And get a fire going in that stone fireplace.
Sarah;
I think each writer has to answer that question. I think the need to produce in order to get a check would be overwhelming for most of us. It takes more discipline than I have. It's like running your own business, unless you work for someone else, like a newspaper or magazine.
Writing a monthly column isn't too hard, but you do run out of ideas. What do people want to read about?
I know one guy who studied several magazines to develop a feel for how often they ran a certain subject. He made sure he querried at just the right time.
There are writers doing promotional brochures, ads, books, DVDs, and otheer stuff to make ends meet. I think the key is to marry someone rich or win the lottery and just keep writing until the money runs out.
Hi Sarah and Larry,
Well, I haven't been back to the Eagle Hill library, so haven't had a chance to build a fire in the fireplace yet.
Larry, I write for www.rapidgrowthmedia.com. When you open the web site, everything on the right side is mine. I also write a feature now and again.
I think every writer has to find out if they can write to a deadline and if they like it. I DO like it, in fact, I love it, but it also takes a lot out of me. The hub says that's because I put too much into it--that I should just do what's required to write an acceptable article and leave it at that. But I think that's a cop out, so I do what I have to do until I'M happy with what I've produced.
And it's not so much the writing that burns me out -- it's the other stuff that goes with it: finding the leads, getting the interviews, doing the interviews, writing the articles, editing them to size, loading them to the web site, creating the hyperlinks within the stories...and then there's the whole thing about getting photos and/or communicating with the photographer... All of it takes time and a lot of focus.
I'm getting faster, I'm getting better, and I've decided to quit trying to build my copywriting business, so that's giving me a chance to take a breather.
BUT -- the big thing before coming on vacation was that I put out TWO publications in one week, and that on the heels of the pub the week before. So...burnout.
Now I'm getting refreshed and I'm dying to write, and tomorrow I'll be driving most of the day to go back to Portland. I'll spend the night there and fly home on Saturday.
Larry, come to Maine! I'm definitely coming back, and soon. And the next time I'm bringing the hub with me...
D
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