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Word Crone Cottage Writing with Intention

Writing with Intention…

My days have been pretty predictable for the past couple of years. Well, we were in lockdown during the pandemic, so there was a force in effect to slow down.

Writing with Intention… and Magic…

I don’t imagine anyone else is interested in my day-to-day writing schedule, but it did occur that I might forget what I have found over the last two years, so in light of potential future distraction as we return to… ha ha. I almost said, “as we return to normal.” Silly, silly woman. Anyway, for my own edification, I thought I should write down some of the things I’ve added to my daily routine over the past two years.

1) Take time to quiet the mind.

Writing with Intention… and Incense…

The first thing I do as I enter my office is light incense. Just one. Then I meditate. Sometimes, meditation comes first. It depends on my mindset as I wake, and who else is awake in the house, so the meditation comes before or after coffee… but there is always coffee… and incense… and meditation.

2) Write down my goals and be mindful of my intentions for the day.

Writing with Intention… and journaling…

Some might just refer to this as a to do list, but I think of the to-do list as goals. Intention is how you engage with that list. My daily journal includes things like “write some words” followed by the daily word count when I’m done, usually around noon. I have a goal of 1,000 words per day. That’s quality words, not quantity, so the quantity might be more like 2,000 words. This is where I account for my daily writing goal. That goes something like this – “Rocky’s POV, chapter 4, the encounter with Bea, drop clues and foreshadow his reason for coming back from the dead.” That’s really the nuts and bolts of the writing goal, but in addition to that, I have to think about that character’s voice, think in his headspace, and consider my audience. Will you like this character? Have I been true to my promise to the reader? Is this thing that I’ve created worthy of my time here on earth?

Writing with Intention… and zhuzhing up the outside of the office…

3. Make some art/make magic in the garden

I also make a note about my afternoon’s intention, which usually entails some form of art. Today’s afternoon goals list reads: “photograph lace”, and “clean up trash around old fishpond.” Those are my goals, but as I’m doing those things, I’m thinking of next Friday’s blog post and how I will frame it around world-building and transforming the mundane into something magical. (Yesterday’s afternoon entailed transporting four goldfish, four frogs, an eastern painted turtle, and a 7-1/2 inch salamander across the yard to their new digs in the more accessible fish ponds. They ground me, and give me an added benefit to my hourly breaks. Every hour of sitting is followed by a stroll around the yard.)

4) Take Action

Writing with Intention… and finishing the darn book...

I am very fortunate in that I am surrounded, (online) with a community of powerful, talented writers with whom I share accountability. Like toddlers, we parallel play (parallel type in our case), and Fridays, we engage in a mastermind session, talking about our goals accomplished over the past week and our intention in the next week.

My intention usually involves my consideration of my readers, genre, and my brand in general. I remind myself of that brand, and occasionally, I tweak the brand through my ever-evolving mission statement.

And finally, I sit down, and write… every morning…  and every afternoon, I make art. But today is Thursday, and it’s five o’clock, so it’s time to wrap up this goal – of creating new content for my blog, and remind myself of my intention – to engage with readers who enjoy a happy ending, who can suspend their own beliefs to enjoy the ride that I call magic, and hopefully, be inspired to make their own art, and magic, and to share it with others.

<3

Sofie.

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Word Crone Cottage

Never mix plaid and floral?

The Magic of Space…

Whether it’s world building in fiction, or the physical space in which we work, I believe it can have an impact on what we do, who we are…

In continuation of the Friday tour of the Word Crone Cottage, this week, I finished the double doors on one end of my office. The doors are… were… the standard cheap double doors, treated plywood construction, that come standard in those little pre-fab sheds. There were not a lot of windows in the building, so when I thrifted four used windows, it was my plan to install them in the plywood double doors like full-French doors. Unfortunately, the bottom windows would cut into too much framing, so I decided against and opted to insulate, panel, and paint the bottom halves. The plaid is a work-in-progress. I underestimated the amount of time it takes to tape, paint, remove tape, wait for paint to dry, before doing it all again with the next color. I’ll add two more accent colors and next week’s tour will include the new, improved plaid panels, as well as the gable over the doors.

It’s the journey…

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Word Crone Cottage

Cream, Two Sugars, and a Couple of Friends

If you know a writer, there’s probably a cup of coffee nearby. I take mine with cream, two sugars, and a couple of friends.

My day always goes – breakfast, at the keyboard in the Word Crone Cottage by 9 a.m., writing. Lunch. Then after meeting my word count, I switch gears to work on the Cottage (or house, or yard, or illustrations.) This week, I’m continuing to work my way around the Word Crone Cottage and it found me styling the area around one of the two armchairs. I like to think of my “style” as… intentional. Eclectic, for sure, but with a purpose. For this little corner of the cottage, the purpose is for hosting a friend or two, serving up a cuppa coffee, and enjoying writerly conversation.

The recipe:

Two friends and a bottomless carafe of coffee…

The upper half of the wall was painted in butter yellow with a dark gold fleur-de-lis stencil. The bottom half is striated navy blue. The trim is sage green. (Those aren’t the real names of those colors. I’ve no idea what the actual names or brands are. I tend to throw different pots of paint together until I’m happy with the result.)

The lamp used to have a glass “Tiffany”-style shade (irreparably broken of course.) I replaced it with a thrift-find. The fringe – isn’t a silk tassel at all – it’s made up of tiny metal springs! I can’t bring myself to replace the fabric covering. The chairs were also a thrift-find. They came from a yard sale at $50 each (including the shearling head coverings that are covering water stains on the backs of both chairs. The story I was told was that they found their way to Charlottesville, VA, USA by way of New Zealand. If walls… and furniture… could talk.

I hope you’ll join me on this tour of the Word Crone Cottage as I finish, paint, and style the other corners of my office. I’ll be back every Friday. So pour yourself a cuppa coffee and join me through the use of the “follow” button. There it is. Just below… 😀