Happiness: 10 Years of Day-on-Day Obsession
James Sallis when teaching writing: “I urge students to have something on that first page, first paragraph that has the sense of the writer leaning forward and saying: ‘I have something important to tell you.'” (Photo and quote from Jonathan Bond’s fine Phoenix New Times article.)
I’m writing this today but in relation to last Friday. For two weeks, for better or worse, my Author Big Year disciplines have been set aside. Deciding to be arrested and then being arrested …. well, those steps have turned my writing life upside down, at least for a (hopefully) short period. I’ve been writing heaps but all on Extinction Rebellion and acting towards climate change action, and all that writing has been for my private use (no one needs to hear banal tales of nervousness and then tense mayhem). I’ve also continued on with the daily Wings Big Year activities, the simple one of educating myself about birds and their migrations and natures. Beyond that, I’ve continued to review for Read Listen Watch and I’ve managed a post or two of interesting history on Nuclear Power History. But as far as progressing the nuclear book (or, perhaps as importantly, moving with Gentle and Tusk), it’s been a tough period.
Since Friday I’ve come up for joyous times in Darwin but as ever, I’ve been selfish and holed up in local cafes to continue thinking and reading. Today I’ve made a move back into the history of Germany’s start of nuclear power in the second half of the 1950s. It’s felt powerful, as powerful in some ways as being handcuffed and shoved into a police van. More power to the writing, eh!
Only 4-5 hours of daily work lately but I find it impossible to castigate myself. I’m moving into the realm of civil disobedience, in a most scared and crabwise fashion, and there’s plenty else going on around us. I hope to settle into a better routine, focused on the big nuclear book (not the other strands of work I’ve taken on) by the start of next week.
Mind swirls: Thunberg, Cornell re birds, impending births, a feast/explosion of books to read and films/shows to watch, that rally, the lure of the wild, nuclear in 2019 Australia, illness/mortality, sore heel, chocolate … not good for today’s writing work. But the previous three days were great, and tomorrow in Sydney will be okay and after that … let’s leave after that until after that. Onwards.
The last ten days have been a mix of exhilaration (“I’m into the book, it’s coming”), despair (“so many interruptions, even if joyful ones, such a slow crawl”), self-disgust (“why can’t I settle a fully energized routine”), and self-pride (“I’m balancing the balls quite well”). This afternoon I’ll attend the Climate Strike rally in Melbourne central and that’s thrilling (if also, of course, existentially dread-inducing) because so many of my writing projects intersect at it. The morning, in the meantime, is productive. Good.
After 286 days of my Author Big Year (which is 13 months long and I’m now 9 months-plus into that), which is meant to be all about sustained daily writing focus, let me report. I’m aiming for daily writing work of 6½ hours and right now I’m tracking at 6 hours/day. Good enough, good enough (especially in a busy year of life). I’m not working enough on proper drafting but let me fix that from now on. Nothing is clear to me today but give me a week and I’ll see the way.
Plenty to do and plenty gets done but still not working properly on what I should be. I’ve been max’ing out on Finders Keepers Café, gnawing away at blogs, research, plans, self-education, reviews, and also some Europe tidy-ups. Plus, at last, some new drafting. I expect tomorrow to be a strong day.
August was spent part working, part living in four different cities/towns in Europe, specifically the Netherlands, Bruges, and Germany. The idea was to holistically redraft as much of the nuclear book as possible, based on how much has been first/second-drafted to date.
How did I do? In theory, escaping the ordinary impositions of life should have seen some 200 hours of writing work but I decided early that with all the moving from town to town, and the lure of summer, that I’d aim for 150 hours. In the event I achieved 133 hours. The first two weeks were quite a bit more productive than the second two. Would I have achieved more at home? Not necessarily. Certainly I wouldn’t have hunkered down and done such meaningful redrafting. Overall, I’m satisfied. And another intangible is a huge sense of relief and change.
But the transition back to Melbourne has left me floundering, unable to see through the dense foliage, the bark. The shock of Melbourne early spring, which is almost Melbourne winter, after European summer, is part of it. Also, working away from my desk means there’s heaps of tidying up to do back here. Today, a few days since the return, I’m still not back to square one. But I’ll get there, I’ll get there.
Day 268, moving to village Cochem tomorrow for the last away-from-it-all redrafting week. Predictably, I’m panicking. Progress has been good but not good enough, and now I’m buried deep, deep, deep, in a chapter that has all the makings of a masterpiece (so says I) but teeters on the edge of chaos. From this chaos shall order emerge. But when? What happens if it takes too long? What if our return to springtime Melbourne has me still redrafting, as is likely? What should I do then? Panic.
Halfway through Week 3, done with Amsterdam and Nijmegen, in Bruges I’ve found the perfect bolt hole, a little bar/cafe called Huis de Cluuse. Cool French-tinged music, only occasional deadshit tourists, locals propping up the bar, Belgium’s summer sun through my window, left alone by the cool bartender/barista … of course I’m working well. It’s 4:30 PM and I’ll gun the work for another hour or so. Oh, if only every day could be spent away from everyone else’s everyday!