Day 25: We had our last group event today, a tour of the Millay estate. We learned that Vincent (Edna St. Vincent Millay) had rules. If you wandered into the pool area, you best be nude. No exceptions. She also moved her husband to his own suite of room to accommodate her lover in her bedroom. Oh Vincent, you were a complicated woman! Her husband, Eugen, addicted … Continue reading At the Colony: Day 25 and a Fond Farewell
Day 23: Two full days left at the Colony. I started to write a new chapter today. After one month at the Colony, I planned to spend one week getting adjusted to family and work, then resuming my writing schedule. I committed to write at least 350 words a day until I finished the novel. I took a nice long walk after lunch, submitted stories … Continue reading At the Colony – Day 23 and 24
Day 21 – For the last twenty days, my routine was as follows: wake up around 11AM, work until 2PM, eat lunch and take a reading break, go back to work from 4PM to dinner time at 6:30, enjoy some wine and good conversations with the other residents, then return to my studio around 9PM, and work until 4AM. Repeat. This schedule was not going … Continue reading At the Colony – Day 21 and 22
Day 18, 19, and 20: I added a couple of more pages to my draft. It is now 111 pages. I resisted the urge to go back and re-read the manuscript. I started to write something new, possibly a new chapter. I thought about my grandmother. She pops up when I feel especially insecure. She died in an accident in 2003. My grandmother tried to teach … Continue reading At the Colony – Day 18, 19, and 20
Day 16: It was a shitty day. I surveyed my pages and let the insecurity demon spit in my face. I regrouped. Read some poetry from a lovely book by Susan Hartung called Inclusion. One poem, “Food” poses the question: “which would you choose, a great meal or great sex?” You can plan for a great meal, but not great sex. I printed out a … Continue reading At the Colony – Day 16 and 17
Day 14: Lasagna night turned out well. After dinner, I switched gears and tried to write a verse, but my head wasn’t in the game: Dependence and submission, syringes and meds, biopsies and breathing tests. The torture of healthy cells, the loss of penance, hunger and survival. Words strung together. Ideas for dialogue. I don’t know, but I’ll post it here for posterity. I kept … Continue reading At the Colony – Day 14 and 15
Day 11: I read a quarter of my book out loud, or I should say, I whispered it. It’s hard to gauge how badly sound carries at the barn. I like to listen to music as I write and edit. I keep it as low as a I can and not use headphones. I have a tendency of jumping out of my seat at certain … Continue reading At the Colony – Day 11, 12, and 13
Some days at the Colony, you are just a workhorse… Day 8: This afternoon, I took a three-hour nap. I woke up and thought about my project and how the third part was still elusive, then I realized that third part is the overarching story. The mystery that the main character thinks she needs to solve to make sense of her world. Day 9: Laundry. Impromptu … Continue reading At the Colony – Day 8, 9, and 10
Day 7: Today a group of us went to a Quaker meeting. I was a little nervous about going, since I’m an atheist and all that. Four of us ended up going to a meeting-house a few towns away. An older woman greeted us at the door. She asked us if this was our first time and if we knew what to expect. We said yes, … Continue reading At the Colony – Day 7
Day 5: Read some of The Road, but took a day off from my novel. After dinner, instead of heading to the local bar on a Friday night, we decided to buy some wine at the local shop in town and bring it back to the house. Our conversation went from art and it’s relationship to culture to serial killers and the coincidence that most … Continue reading At The Colony – Day 5 and 6
Day 4: I woke up late today, around 11Am. Skipped breakfast. Opted for a walk instead. I walked for 80 minutes down route 22. The trails were muddy or covered in snow still. I was famished after my walk. Hurray for leftovers. I made an avocado salad and ate it with leftover pork tenderloin and white rice. One of the residents, a fiction writer sat with me. … Continue reading At the Colony – Day 4
Day 3: I spent most of the day by myself. Made an omelette and coffee, and ate my breakfast at the main house. Back in my studio, I continued to read McCarthy’s The Road. I listened to music and spaced out. I stared at the first six chapters of the novel. The pattern was circular. Four short, first-person POV, flash pieces and two longer pieces. … Continue reading At the Colony – Day 3
Day 1: I arrived at 2Pm. Spent the rest of the afternoon getting settled. Ate dinner with the other residents. Home for the next four weeks is a converted barn. There are four bedrooms and two bathrooms on the first floor and four studios on the second floor. From 9pm until 1AM, I devised a work plan. I decided to order the first 100 pages of my working … Continue reading At the Colony – Days 1 and 2
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