Sunday 30 October 2011

Row80 - Round 4 - Check in 8

It's the last check in before November madness kicks in. For those of you doing Nanowrimo, best of luck. I will be doing the more civilised Poem A Day hosted by Robert Lee Brewer. If it's anything like last year, I'll be kicking up all sorts of dust along memory lane, writing some doggerel and hopefully some gems. I like to think of it as yoga postures for the muse.

Speaking of which, yoga's back on track, only missed one day I shouldn't have and I'm now keeping my yoga journal in the same notepad as my writers journal. I thought it might be a good way to see how yoga feeds the muse and it's more practical to keep everything in one place rather than trying to remember what journal's for what. I can always type everything up onto the computer if I need to separate them.

Thanks to my task manager refusing to let neglected tasks fall to the bottom of the screen, I finally chose a poem "Living" by Denise Lervetov to read and analyse and have added the notes to my writers journal as well as transferring it onto my learning blog. I love the simplicity and use of colour in the piece.

I finished the rewrite of one of six poems for my current assignment, typed up a commentary of my working outs. I think it went through about 6 drafts before I was fairly happy with it.

Also studying wise, I received my new course materials and fired of my student profile to my new tutor. Hoping to get some time in today to read through the requirements and make notes this time. Honestly, I'm useless when it comes to note making. I'm also feeling weird about embracing short fiction again but it's the nature of the education system to focus on short stories rather than teaching novel's right off. Hopefully I'll get some stories that are slushpileable out of it.

I finished reading and reviewed The Road by Cormac McCarthy which is scheduled to hit the blog this coming Thursday.

I'm still updating databases, read another writing related article and have been neglecting the novel's spreadsheet. Ahh, there's always something that doesn't get done.

I must admit I'm starting to get used to all this juggling, I'm toying with the idea of writing up a blog post on the benefits of using task managers but have no idea when I'll fit it in at the moment.

Hope you're all having a great weekend.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you're doing great! Good luck with Poem A Day! I think the blog abut task managers is a good idea - when you can fit it in! lol :)

DarkWyvern said...

Sounds like you've got a lot done this week! I'm looking forward to the November madness, even though I'll be on the sidelines for the first half. Good luck with the Poem a Day :)

Katy Bennett said...

Thank you Ladies.

alberta ross said...

good luck on the poems will be interesting to see if the yoga feed into inspiration-I can see it doing so

all the best with those short stories and for this coming week

Nadja Notariani said...

You're plugging away, Katy! Keep up the great work. Yoga is such a great way to exercise. I used to take classes when we lived in VA. I miss it. It's much more difficult than people realize, and builds great muscle tone.
Have a great week!

Katy Bennett said...

Thank you Alberta

Nadja, I'm not taking classes, I've got a few books and videos I'm working from, could be a option? I might take classes once my fitness levels are up. Don't think I could keep up with a class at the moment. Yoga for dummies is good for explain how to put routines together.

Anonymous said...

Did you know they also do a poem a day in April (poetry month and all)? Pulling a poem out of the ether every day is a challenge but I'm sure you can pull it off :) All in all it sounds like you're getting into the swing of things (task managers do help). Good job and good luck with NaNo!

Anonymous said...

Great job on your goals, Katy. Amazing how you are able to juggle so many things, quite the inspiration. Enjoy the "civilized NaNo"!

Have a great week :)

Stacy said...

Great job this week. Poetry is so beyond my reach. I'm always amazed by anyone able to write it:) Good luck on the Poem A Day, and the yoga. I'm getting back into it myself:)

Anonymous said...

I so aspire to become a yoga-ist! I especially hear great things about Bikram yoga (the hot yoga) and I'm dying to try it.

Keep up the great work, Katy! Poetry ain't for sissies. :-)

Katy Bennett said...

Thanks Ryan, I did know about the April one. maybe I'll do it next year if I keep my redrafting under control.

Thanks Gene, feel like I'm rolling my enthusiasm might take a dive by the time the next weekend rolls around.

Thanks Stacy.

Katy Bennett said...

Thanks Jenny, I think bikram would be too hot for me, I melt in 100 degree heat, we're not used to those temperatures in England.

Anonymous said...

Katy,
I'd say you're doing a great job on juggling. I've been thinking of adding some routine to my exercise--I may well look into Yoga for Dummies. And please do the post on task managers--I need all the help I can get!

Best of luck with "civilised" Nano.
Elizabeth

Robin M said...

Have fun with the poem a day. I don't have a poetic bone in my body so appreciate those who do. :) Sounds you are doing great. Yoga is definitely a good thing. I should start doing it again.

Lena Corazon said...

Oh, the poem-a-day challenge sounds wonderful! I'm looking forward to hearing how you progress with it.

Have a wonderful week!

Anonymous said...

Looks like you are doing well on all your goals. Hope you do well with the poetry this coming month. That will be quite an undertaking, regardless of it not being NaNo. Great job on keeping up with yoga. I think everyone misses a day of exercise here and there. So long as it isn't too often, you're okay.

Author A.O. Peart said...

Hi Kathy, you are very focused and your achievements are impressive. Have fun with the "more civilized NaNo" and the Poem A Day :-)

Anonymous said...

I wish I could do something as civilized as a Poem a Day, but the fact of the matter is that I'm still just terrible at poetry. Even short stories give me trouble. Curse my novelist heart! :)

It sounds like you've got a really great pace going! You're getting a lot done, with maybe a few small bumps, but the nice thing about small bumps is that you can usually drive right past them and forget them. Keep it up!

And you're making me miss yoga. I need to get back into it.