For the first time since I started this blog several weeks ago, there is no flash fiction story today. I do want to stick to my regular schedule of posting a blog every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday at 6pm Sydney time, so here are some of my ponderings, and a quick talk about all the things I’m keen on doing.
Somehow, I’ve never considered myself as a creative person. I’ve been drawing and painting on and off ever since I was a kid, but I never considered that to be creative because I “cheated”. Which means I never invented anything, I always copied pictures that already existed. So in my head, that meant I wasn’t creative.
Around age 11, I started to play the cello, but stopped two years later under the guise of “being too busy with schoolwork”. Which was of course a bit silly, because really, I wasn’t that busy. I liked, and I still like, that my mom gave me the freedom to quit. Maybe it would’ve been better if she’d forced me to continue, but probably not.
I dabbled a bit in photography, meaning that I had a small compact digital camera when such things were pretty new, and I did like taking photos but never took it to the next level. I’ve knitted and crocheted (yes, this is correct past tense of crochet, I’ve looked it up!) things, and at one point even attempted to spin alpaca wool on a spinning wheel which I’d assembled myself.
I started writing some story a few times but never got further than a page before I forgot about it.
I’m 34 now. I’ve got a cello which I’ve bought a few years ago and my fingers are itching to play again. This time though, I want to really practice enough to be good enough not to be embarrassed to play for people. Which is why I haven’t started yet, I need to be sure it’s the right time to start up again so I can invest time. I’ve got a few empty canvasses and secondhand paint and brushes, all ready to be used. Again, I’m waiting on the good timing to be able to invest time.
I’ve got it in my head that I want to buy a decent camera, because I want to be able to take close-up photos of spiders. And flowers. And insects. And everything else, except humans. My phone camera frustrates me to no end because it’s unable to do such a thing.
I bake my own sourdough bread at home once a week, am brewing kombucha, have toyed with making tofu, frequently make soy milk, or oat milk, or any other plant-based milk, I work as a gardener, have a plan in my head to make an outdoor area for my cat, have other plans in my head for other DIY projects, started sewing a few months ago and making my first dress is something which is happening soon.
And I started writing at the end of May 2018, and wrote every day since then. I might even be a little bit obsessed by it. I was thinking about all of this today, and I was astounded to come to the conclusion that, maybe, just maybe, I actually am creative! I think I might even say that I definitely am a creative person. I have never seen myself, or labeled myself, that way, which makes this a bit of an odd experience. I can’t say I’m surprised though. I’m learning so much from myself these years, I feel like I’m finally starting to figure out who I am. It’s pretty awesome!
As for all the writing stuff. In May I started writing on my first novel. AT first, the idea I had was supposed to be a short story. But then I started world building, and adding more characters, and I quickly realised it was to be a novel. I’m about 70k words in, and I reckon that’s probably halfway.
Next to that, I’ve started doing these flash fiction stories because they are such a great way to practice writing! I also have several more other ideas for more novels (and if I want to add a second and/or third book to my first novel, those ideas also already exist). I’ve written a short story which I’ll be submitting today, if I can finish editing it. Deadline (oh my gosh, I’ve written a story which had a deadline!) is tomorrow, so I better hurry up and get it done! I’m honestly not expecting to be picked as first place, but I do hope to get an honorable mention for originality. It’s the first time I’ve written a story for a specific purpose so I’m excited! (It was for this)
And now I also have an idea for a podcast. Aaaaaarrrghhh! Too many ideas, definitely not enough time! Working full-time doesn’t help with getting all the creative things done! Somehow, I’m counting on the end of winter to help met more done. Being warmer means being less inclined to snuggle up on the couch with lap cat. And I’ve just noticed that it’s already past 6pm, so I’ll end my rambling here. Feel free to shoot me a comment or send me an email astridjefwriter@gmail.com. Or hey, just connect with me on Twitter!
Bye for now and thanks for reading all this way. You’re my hero!