Kent’s Beach at sunset on my birthday, picture Kate Dryden Dunn

Just over a month ago I sat down and wrote almost a full blog post that I intended to publish before my birthday (which is late September). And then the next thing I knew it was October 11th! September seemed to be one of those vanishing months this year. I think its disappearance was aided by two weekends away, my mum visiting for a week, three Bard on the Beach shows, and one visit to Broadway Across Canada. I’m sure there WAS a month that happened in amongst all that, but I hardly remember it!

Autumn is here, with shockingly clear skies in Vancouver and some perfectly cool temperatures. My sweater collection and I are currently living our best lives. Autumn is also birthday time for me, which in my world also gives me an opportunity to figure out a few things I’d like to accomplish in my 36th year.

I’m knocking a big travel/bucket list/epic adventure thing off those lists in November when I go to Africa, which I’m beyond excited for, and hope I have the presence of mind to post about afterwards (we all know my track record here)

I’d like to learn/re-learn a few non-essential skills as well. I learned to juggle in elementary school (and was even cast as a lead in a play based on my abilities) but I’ve fallen WAAAY off. It’s a weird, silly thing that I liked being able to do, so I’m going to try and commit to practicing for a couple of minutes every day. Maybe post the practice videos? We’ll see, Sam and Sandra are inspiring me to try and motivate myself via IG these days. The other thing I’d like to get better at is ukulele. I have this GORGEOUS uke that I can play about three chords confidently on. I have the instrument, I want to be able to play it, dang it! So, similar to juggling, I’m going to try and put in some practice minutes every day (maybe week)

Finally, that dang novel. Normally, at this time of year, I’d be gearing up for NaNoWriMo, but with the trip to Africa happening right smack dab in the middle of November, I know far better than to try and attempt that. I know myself far too well. However, I’ve had some epiphanies about my novel over the past couple of months, so the re-write is on….slowly. I might try and use November to be NaNo adjacent, and work on it a bit (maybe on the 30 hours plane rides?)

So, that’s it. Juggle, ukulele, novel. A few things to spice up 36, and make that trip around the sun a little more interesting.

You know that feeling when you’re supposed to be halfway through re-writing your novel and you realize you’ve been writing the book from the wrong character’s point of view? Actually no, not just point of view, but the wrong character’s story completely. Yeeeaaaah. Needless to say I think there’s going to be a bit of a readjustment to my 12-week schedule.

I think one of the reasons that I’ve struggled with this story for so long is that I, for reasons completely unknown to me, have pushed back at telling the story from this character’s side of things. I have no idea why, everyone who I’ve talked to about the story has always told me how they find her more interesting than my current protagonist.

I should be on ‘re-writing Act II’ of my NaNo novel according to the plan I put together, however, I’ve been stuck on ‘re-write outline’ since June…probably because I’ve been trying to write the wrong character’s story this whole time. Don’t get me wrong, I like his story, I think it’s interesting (obviously, or else why would I have tried so hard to write it?!) but this book isn’t his story.

So, back to the drawing board, and writing the outline from the correct character’s point of view and getting back to writing this story.

Well, I slacked a bit in my first week of my 12-week plan of working on my novel. However, I figure since I’m trying to keep myself accountable, I should share the things I’ve learned in the first week.

I’m re-reading the novel I wrote during NaNo for the first time since November. It’s….not as bad as I thought it would be? I mean, it’s not good, but I remember it being much worse when I was writing it. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done to rework my protagonist and the whole opening…and the first act. But there’s definitely the bare bones of a story in there.

I also found a free course on Reedsy to help me with my ‘bad with 3-act structure’ situation, yay Internet!

That’s about all I have to update for now. Accountability post done!

One of the main reasons I try to blog is because I keep hearing about how regular writing makes you a better writer. Well, maybe not better, but at least more habitual. More accustomed to sitting down and getting the words out and onto paper (well, screen).

If you’ve been following me here at all, then you’re probably well aware that I’m sporadic at best when it comes to writing blog posts. I did semi-regularly post that Game of Thrones blog series for a while, but well, I think my ambition far outweighed my current ability on that one.

However, I’ve been listening to a podcast called Before Breakfast for the past couple of months, and host Laura Vanderkam recently did a 5-part series on procrastination that really hit home. As you can see from the title of this post, I live in the kingdom of Procrastination, I’m comfortable here, I usually get things done eventually…

However, that being said, I’m secretly ambitious. I’d actually really like people to read the novel I wrote during NaNo. And get projects done around my house so I don’t always have projects on the go around my house.

So, to combine a tip I heard from Laura, who also wrote a book during NaNo, and a great panel I saw at the Creative Ink Festival in March, I’m posting my 12-week plan for my novel for all to see. I’m hoping that any of the few who read this blog will attempt to keep me accountable for this.

12-Week Plan

Weeks 1 & 2 (June 9-22): re-read NaNo novel and finish updating new outline for novel

Weeks 3-5 (June 23-July 13) re-write Act 1

Weeks 6-8 (July 14-August 3) re-write Act II

Weeks 9-11 (August 4-24) re-write Act III

Week 12 (August 25-31): final revisions on new draft

Sept 4 (after Labour Day long weekend): draft out to beta readers

Maybe I should be more specific? I don’t know. I’m admittedly not great at the ‘act structure’ in my own writing. I’m hoping have a concrete outline will help with that. I’m also going to add that on top of this plan, I’ll update here on the blog how I’m doing with the various steps week by week. Hopefully, that will keep me accountable to myself? (Probably not, I know the person laying down those ‘rules’ and she’s a bit of a pushover when it comes to deadlines - which is where you, dear reader, come in)

Kevin Hearne laughed when he read my words.

He laughed right out loud at something I wrote. I was sitting nervously next to him when it happened, quietly waiting as he read through my pages for our blue pencil session. I felt the tension ease out of me with that chuckle. When we then went over the pages, he was exceptionally kind and praised my 'voice.' As someone who struggles greatly with calling themselves a 'writer,' this short 15-minute interaction with helped boost my confidence in my writing by leaps and bounds. 

This is the type of experience you get when you attend the Creative Ink Festival. An encouraging and positive feeling flows through the whole event. Whether it's in a session like the one I did, in one of the many panels or presentations, or in just stopping someone to chat in the hall. Everyone is there to learn and help and encourage. It sure is something in a world like ours that can, on occasion, be terrible, to find an event that has such a warm, inviting atmosphere.

On top of blue pencil sessions, there were also kaffeeklatches, red pencil sessions, pitch sessions, panels and presentations galore, plus a Master Class with the other guest of honour, C.C. Humphreys. 

I'm someone who's trying to become a better and more confident fiction writer, so I wanted to make the most of my festival this year. So, on top of my session with Kevin Hearne, and many many panels, I also attended the Master Class with the other guest of honour C.C. Humphreys on the opening day of the festival. On top of being an excellent speaker, Humphreys had terrific words of wisdom for the writers in the room (who were both newbies and pros alike): "Writing is writing." 

Now, for many of you, writers or not, this may seem like the most obvious thing in the world. However, when you're like me and struggle to call yourself a writer because you can never seem to get the right words out, (or blog very sporadically), it was a lovely reminder that any words that get put down on the page (or screen) are worth it. Throughout the weekend this was reinforced over and over again. During the Masterclass with Humphreys it was emphasized that getting the words out, no matter what was always the end goal, they don't have to be pretty or perfect. During his opening speech, Kevin Hearne spoke about his first manuscript that sits in a bottom drawer and will never see the light of day, but it helped him know that he could finish writing a book. 

A 'slogan' popped up over the course of the weekend, coined by someone, but I'm not sure who, "no word is wasted," it came up in several panels.  Humphrey's "writing is writing" means the same thing, get those dang words out already! 

I was also fortunate enough to be on a panel on podcasting, the one thing that I feel very confident talking about because I know how to do it. Why is that? I've had practice. An episode almost every week for just over three years worth of practice. I've 'gotten the words out' so to speak, (pun sort of intended) and as such feel like I know what I'm talking about enough to pass on advice to a curious audience (an audience that included C.C. Humphreys!). That was a light bulb moment for me for sure. Three years ago I had no idea how to podcast, but I've learned by doing, and now have a pretty successful, super-niche little podcast. If I can transfer that over to writing - well,  who knows really, but I bet I can finally finish writing a book. 

The Creative Ink Festival will be happening again next year. I'll be there, and if you're looking for a low-key but super positive (and affordable!) and creatively energizing event to attend, you should be too. 

I'd kind of been struggling as to what to post as my first post on my new site. Should it be a statement of intention? Maybe, but every time I do that, I feel like I fail to live up to that statement. Then I was reminded ('cause, the Internet) that it was the 20th Anniversary of the first publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (that's right, PHILOSOPHER, not Sorcerer, silly Americans), and figured that it was the perfect thing to reflect on, 'cause I have a kind of odd but (hopefully) charming story about becoming a Harry Potter fan. 

When I first heard about Harry Potter, it was from my friend Reen. We were 15 and having a sleepover at my house. Now, it's important to note that, at the time, I considered her love of Jane Austen books to be odd (how foolish young Andrea was) and therefore believed her taste in books to be slightly questionable.

She began to tell me about this book that she was reading, about this kid and the wizard school he goes to. The thing I remember most vividly was her trying to explain Quidditch to me. I don't know why she thought that sport would be the way to convince me to read these books, but I remember becoming more and more skeptical as words like 'quaffle,' 'snitch' and 'bludger' escaped her mouth. Sure, wizards who play sports on brooms, right Reen... *cue fifteen-year-old eyeroll*. I thought it all sounded so dumb and therefore resolutely declared I would never read 'those wizard books'.

Cut to a year later. My aunt and my two cousins from Victoria were visiting us up in the frozen north for Spring Break. My cousins are 10 and 12 years younger than me, and they were reading Harry Potter. I remembered the books from when Reen tried to convince me, and the fact that these little kids were reading them (or possibly having it read to them) was clear proof that these were dumb kids books I don't know why they brought all three of the books that were published with them, but they did. 

Thank god they did.

A few days into their stay, out of the kind of curiousity that you can't help when you see other people so excited about something, I picked up the first book and read the inside flap. And then the first chapter. J.K. Rowling had hooked me, like so many others, with her story of the neglected boy from under the stairs who discovered he was part of a great big invisible world. Before they went back to Victoria I'd finished not only Philosopher's Stone, but Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban as well.

By the summer that The Order of the Phoenix was released I was completely hooked. I was working at a summer camp in the Shuswap. I had my pre-ordered copy sent to the office. I lived in fear that it wouldn't arrive on the day it was supposed to, seeing as we were in a tiny little town in the middle of BC. Thankfully my copy DID arrive in time, 'cause my friend Shannon bought a copy and we were (for reasons I can't rightfully explain) going to have a 'race' and see who could finish first. We both were working long days in the smokin' hot heat of a Shuswap summer, but would race back to our little common room and read whenever we had a chance. I honestly can't remember who 'won', but having someone reading that book at the same time was great for the 'can you believe that?' and 'how do you think this?' kind of questions that would inevitably come up.

I was lucky enough to work at a Coles bookstore when I was in university and got to work the midnight launch for The Half-Blood Prince. We all dressed up, I knit house scarves for the whole staff, we had owls from a local bird sanctuary, crafts, games, the whole nine yards. I got my copy of book 6 at midnight like everyone else, but was one of the lucky ones that didn't have to work the next day, which meant I could stay up and read the book when I got home.

And I did.

By the time I got to Snape killing Dumbledore I'd been awake for more hours than I could remember and had consumed a fair amount of coffee. I was sure I'd hallucinated it. That couldn't possibly have happened could it? There was NO way that could have happened. I put the book down. I paced. I went outside into the early morning air and paced a little more, contemplating all the ways I could've misread what I thought I'd just read. Then I came back and sat down and re-read the passage, and then the tears began. I don't cry a lot when I read. But Rowling got me, I was overtired and over-caffeinated, so that may have contributed to it, but she got me nonetheless. 

When Deathly Hallows was released in 2007, I was 23, I was supposedly an adult. I'd graduated from university with my fancy film studies degree, and instead of launching myself into the world, I'd moved back home. Just as I was finishing up my degree, far away from home, my father was diagnosed with cancer and passed away a few months later. That first year was HARD. Anyone who's lost not only a parent, but any loved one, will tell you that all those 'firsts', Father's Day, birthday, Christmas, etc, after you lose them are the worst.

So to say that when I opened up my copy of Deathly Hallows on July 21, 2007 the sting of my his death was still sharp, is a bit of an understatement. The first 'anniversary' of his passing was only days away, and I was looking forward to escaping into the world of Harry Potter one last time. Unsurprisingly, Rowling got me again.

“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury and remedying it.”

— -Albus Dumbledore, The Deathly Hallows

This book, and it's themes of death, grief, power and strength hit right to the core of me, 'remedying' me in ways that I don't think I quite understood at the time. Harry fearing and confronting death, and his talk with Dumbledore at King's Cross are things that still resonate with me almost 10 years later. 

It's been a long, wonderful journey from refusing to read those 'dumb wizard books' to eagerly anticipating each release and proudly wearing my Gryffindor colours, and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Thank you J.K. Rowling, and happy anniversary Harry.