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Archive for March, 2010

Moving update & things to read

In my last post, I mentioned I had two stories out for submission to literary mags. Since then, I haven’t been working on my personal writing at all. And I feel just fine about it. I kind of feel almost like I had a deadline and made it with weeks to spare. I guess I felt, without actually knowing it, that I had to do something with my writing while I was living here in Calgary. I spent five years working on two stories, finally cut the cord and let them be done, wrote two really wonderful new stories and sent several out into the world. While I’m not as far along as I’d like, I think it’s pretty great. Not a bad nine years.

I’ve been spending my time visiting my favourite places in town for the last time – mostly restaurants – and preparing to move. Here are some interesting things I’ve been reading in between:

How to Get an Influencer’s Attention at Techipedia (that’s not a hint or anything – promise)

Waking up at 5am Experiment – Conclusion (not writing-related, but something my husband and I are going to try once we’re settled in Toronto. We’re the most awful kind of people – morning people.)

Strategic Planning is for the Birds at Escape from Cubicle Nation (great for planning a cross-country move while still living your normal life)

March 29, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Some news

I’ve been making some fairly superficial posts on this here blog lately, as my brain has been full of exciting news. After nine years of living in Calgary (and 11 years for him), my husband and I have decided to move back to Toronto. I’m very close with my parents and my mother had a stroke two years ago. It was a minor one and she is doing much better than stroke victims usually are, but still, my urge to move home has transcended simple homesickness since then.

It’s all happening quite quickly – we’re moving in May. I can still work for my clients virtually. I didn’t expect to be able to pick up my freelancing business and transfer it to Toronto, so I’m very lucky. We’ve even got an apartment. Now, the next hurdle is finding a Canadian moving company that is BBB accredited and gets generally good reviews – a harder task than it seems. If anyone has a recommendation, I’m all ears!

I’m excited to move but, at the same time, a little nervous. Toronto is my home (in fact, I’ll be living a nine-minute drive from the first place I ever lived), but I’ve lived in Calgary for so long. I’m such a Calgarian about some things. My initial reaction to learning there was no independent cafe in my neighbourhood was, “UGH. I’ll have to drive!” That’s just not true in Toronto! It’ll be interesting to see the ways in which Calgary has made me regard city living.

Well! In writing news, my husband has a short story of mine in his hand right now, ready to mail to a literary magazine. That makes two stories I have out in the world, something that hasn’t happened in quite a long time. I feel good about it. I had actually given up on one of the stories for several months until, inspired by my last post, I decided to read it again. I liked it! Very little work was needed, which is always exciting.

Lastly, I want to share a video my friend Gail posted on her blog, called The Future of Publishing. As Gail describes it, “If you are at all concerned with the future of publishing, or think that books are a thing of the past, then you need to watch this video.” And speaking of Gail, she was actually interviewed by The New Yorker! Here’s her blog post about it. Congratulations Gail! When I’d heard about the interview, I joked to her that I should’ve given her a story to sneak into the slush pile – that’s ethical, right?

(Photo from Flickr user yorkville.)

March 22, 2010 | 5 comments | View Post

Putting your writing in a drawer – it works!

So, you know that saying about writing something, putting it in a drawer, and coming back to it much later to see if you still like it? I don’t know who it’s attributed to, or even how long this mystery person recommended putting away your writing. Nine months? Nine years?

Either way, I’m here to tell you it works. The other day, I unearthed a story I’d written seven years ago and completely forgotten about. I was prepared to pull my face off in embarrassment as I read it, but the shocking thing was – I actually liked it! At that time in my writing life, I didn’t focus too much on traditional story structure or really even a traditional plot arc. I’d come across examples of this earlier, more experimental writing that made me roll my eyes, but this one pleasantly surprised me. If I may toot my own horn a bit, I found it was smart and flowed quite well. Of course, I’m not going to go into details about an unfinished story here, but suffice it to say that it just needs a small bit of polish (I mean, I really like plot and characterization now) and I’ll be happy to send it out into the world!

Success! It’s almost like I didn’t really have to do much of anything to get a completed short story. It’s like a gift from Me of the Past.

Seriously – who said that thing about putting your writing away in a drawer? Part of me thinks it’s someone ridiculous like Plato, but maybe it’s Zadie Smith. Does anyone know?

March 15, 2010 | 1 comment | View Post

Video post: How book covers get designed

Sit back, relax and spend a couple of minutes watching this video of a book cover being designed, courtesy of The Awl and Orbit Books. Oh, and sit far back from your monitor; there’s a lot of wiggling going on.

It’s so rare to see book-related things translated into visual format (yes, I know one can see a book, but that isn’t quite what I mean) and I love videos of words-and-books-related things. Let me know if you come across any good ones!

March 11, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Photo post: Where I write

Yes, this looks like an ad for Ikea’s Poäng chair, but it’s not. This is my favourite writing spot in the house. There are windows along one wall and continuing for a bit around a corner, so I feel surrounded by light. And, okay, the Poäng chair is pretty comfortable too.

March 5, 2010 | 3 comments | View Post

Spelling and Grammar: “wont” vs “won’t”

This spelling & grammar installment isn’t a pet peeve, as they usually are. It’s just general word love. I recently noticed that someone had arrived at my blog through a Google search for “grammar of ‘i am won’t.’” It took me a minute or two to understand that the question really was about the word wont. So, in case you ever come back this way, Mystery Googler, here is your answer:

What is the difference between wont and won’t?

The word wont talks about someone in the habit of doing something, or of a characteristic of something. To use it in a couple of sentences:

“Samantha was wont to think about spelling too much.”
“Tomorrow will be quiet, as Sundays are wont to be.”

The word won’t, as I bet you already know, is a contraction meaning will not.

So, this one’s easy. It’s really a spelling thing, since speaking the two words aloud will tell you right away if you’re saying the wrong one – and if you’re saying wont, people might mishear you and think you’re saying want, depending on your accent. This adds a bit more excitement to life! Actually, the pronunciation might help you determine which one you want to write out. Wont sounds like want, and you wouldn’t spell want with an apostrophe, like won’t!

Oh wow. Was I getting carried away there or what? Sorry, spelling tends to do that to me.

March 4, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post
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