May have just missed the 45 min mark for this convo but mine usually revolve around indulging in a comforting food! Finished the latest revision of a difficult piece last night and am making sure to take some extra time with my meals today, and hopefully buy myself some ice cream next time I do the groceries :)
I like the idea of a finishing dessert! I only make my "special" dishes at holidays, but it's a great idea to make something I consider celebratory after finishing a draft.
I really miss running 5Ks, because there's nothing like crossing a literal finish line and being handed a medal for it, to feel like you completed a thing. I would like to get the same feeling from writing, but I haven't found it yet. One thing I do to stop picking at an essay is once I deem it "finished" (for now), I submit it to 2-3 places. It allows me to forget about it, like your Scrivener file, but it feels more hands off when it's out in the world. I have terrible impulse control (gemini with gemini all over my chart) and so taking it out of my hands is sometimes the only way.
Hi Chelsea! Wow, 5Ks! I miss lifting myself. Do you ever send your work to friends as a "submission" tool? I'm realizing that that is a common tactic I use when I finish books and essays too. Also, so much Gemini! Good idea to just hand it over to the submission deities.
I do send to a couple trusted readers before I consider anything done, but I can be so impatient (which is rude of me--I try to only be impatient in my mind). No matter how done it feels, I will revise while my readers are looking at it--even though I think that is rude, too! I'm the same way about deadlines: if they are self-imposed, I don't stick to them. I like picking a contest deadline or submission window and writing toward it as a way to force myself to finish. Maybe that is my finish line? There's no medal for forking over $25, though!
Lol, your last sentence. It's very true. I think the practice of finishing based on deadline can be helpful. But I've also been very comforted by the fact that I never have to "finish" a work, and that the work is constantly going to change, even if I've published it. Like how Whitman considered Leaves of Grass his life's work and decided to continually revise it until his death (perhaps apocryphal but it's a useful story for me).
When I finish a poem, it's usually in the notes app on my phone. If I like the poem enough or deem it worthy, it will make it from my notes app to the folder on my computer. A poem going from notes to file feels like I'm accepting my own work as an editor, critic, and reader of poetry—and makes me feel happy and successful for the day!
My writing rituals are built into the way I write and perhaps traced with my own past as a book designer. One of the first things I do when I “finish” a version of a poem is put it in a collection in Scrivener and promptly forget about it. Over time, I can see the number of pieces rise, which is rather pleasing.
When it’s time for me to make a manuscript, I start porting my poems out of the various nooks and crannies they end up in and typeset them as though they would be in a book. I use a new typeface for each book—my first book was in Walbaum and my second is in Electra. When I’ve completed one version, I print them out, collect them in these ridiculous but pleasing brass binder clips I have, and abandon the stack somewhere in my office for weeks or even months, until I’ve “forgotten” about it enough to edit it. I repeat this process until I read the manuscript cover-to-cover without wanting to mark it up.
Due to my Aries sun / Cap moon combo, I actually find it hard to relax and stop working because I always have another thing I’m working on, so I do a lot of maintenance self-care through baking while I work throughout the day (anything I can “forget” about), sitting in front my sun lamp, and reading a far distance from any personal electronic devices.
Oh, another thing that comes to mind: it helps to build your writing in a way where you "complete" little things rather than big things. The big things take forever and are often made up of the little things. For The Year of Blue Water, I numbered my entries in chunks of 50, making every one written a completion. I'd have a lag here or there, then other days when I wrote five in one session. It didn't take long before I accidentally had hundreds.
May have just missed the 45 min mark for this convo but mine usually revolve around indulging in a comforting food! Finished the latest revision of a difficult piece last night and am making sure to take some extra time with my meals today, and hopefully buy myself some ice cream next time I do the groceries :)
Yes, yes, yes! Giving yourself an extra occasion for feeling cozy. Food radiates "home" to me!
Yes!!! Home base too, a comfort after crossing the finish line. Letting the work arrive home too. Finishing feels so much like a circle sometimes.
Can I offer this *pretty good* banana bread recipe that I made this week: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/best-banana-bread-recipe/
I like the idea of a finishing dessert! I only make my "special" dishes at holidays, but it's a great idea to make something I consider celebratory after finishing a draft.
I really miss running 5Ks, because there's nothing like crossing a literal finish line and being handed a medal for it, to feel like you completed a thing. I would like to get the same feeling from writing, but I haven't found it yet. One thing I do to stop picking at an essay is once I deem it "finished" (for now), I submit it to 2-3 places. It allows me to forget about it, like your Scrivener file, but it feels more hands off when it's out in the world. I have terrible impulse control (gemini with gemini all over my chart) and so taking it out of my hands is sometimes the only way.
Hi Chelsea! Wow, 5Ks! I miss lifting myself. Do you ever send your work to friends as a "submission" tool? I'm realizing that that is a common tactic I use when I finish books and essays too. Also, so much Gemini! Good idea to just hand it over to the submission deities.
I do send to a couple trusted readers before I consider anything done, but I can be so impatient (which is rude of me--I try to only be impatient in my mind). No matter how done it feels, I will revise while my readers are looking at it--even though I think that is rude, too! I'm the same way about deadlines: if they are self-imposed, I don't stick to them. I like picking a contest deadline or submission window and writing toward it as a way to force myself to finish. Maybe that is my finish line? There's no medal for forking over $25, though!
They should be paying *us* for submitting! Sigh.
Lol, your last sentence. It's very true. I think the practice of finishing based on deadline can be helpful. But I've also been very comforted by the fact that I never have to "finish" a work, and that the work is constantly going to change, even if I've published it. Like how Whitman considered Leaves of Grass his life's work and decided to continually revise it until his death (perhaps apocryphal but it's a useful story for me).
When I finish a poem, it's usually in the notes app on my phone. If I like the poem enough or deem it worthy, it will make it from my notes app to the folder on my computer. A poem going from notes to file feels like I'm accepting my own work as an editor, critic, and reader of poetry—and makes me feel happy and successful for the day!
Aw, this idea that you're accepting your own work is very, very sweet! And true!
My writing rituals are built into the way I write and perhaps traced with my own past as a book designer. One of the first things I do when I “finish” a version of a poem is put it in a collection in Scrivener and promptly forget about it. Over time, I can see the number of pieces rise, which is rather pleasing.
When it’s time for me to make a manuscript, I start porting my poems out of the various nooks and crannies they end up in and typeset them as though they would be in a book. I use a new typeface for each book—my first book was in Walbaum and my second is in Electra. When I’ve completed one version, I print them out, collect them in these ridiculous but pleasing brass binder clips I have, and abandon the stack somewhere in my office for weeks or even months, until I’ve “forgotten” about it enough to edit it. I repeat this process until I read the manuscript cover-to-cover without wanting to mark it up.
Due to my Aries sun / Cap moon combo, I actually find it hard to relax and stop working because I always have another thing I’m working on, so I do a lot of maintenance self-care through baking while I work throughout the day (anything I can “forget” about), sitting in front my sun lamp, and reading a far distance from any personal electronic devices.
Thank you for your generosity Yanyi!
Thanks for reading, Prince! :)
Oh, another thing that comes to mind: it helps to build your writing in a way where you "complete" little things rather than big things. The big things take forever and are often made up of the little things. For The Year of Blue Water, I numbered my entries in chunks of 50, making every one written a completion. I'd have a lag here or there, then other days when I wrote five in one session. It didn't take long before I accidentally had hundreds.