Doing Days

Couple of ‘doing days’.  Little chores outside the home to get done, buy Christmas stamps, return boots (not the millionaire boots, other ones), buy some glass jars in Søstrene Grene, clear them out of yellow candles too, deodorant in Boots on rewards points and several scented bookmarks in Jo Malone (they had a new assistant.  I admit, I took advantage.  The Naughty List holds no fear for me).  Tuesday, waited in for a parcel which I realised, at 4pm, had been put ‘in a safe place’ the day before.  So, didn’t get out for a walk, but instead of farring niente, caught up on the Monday ‘inside the home chores’.  Turned out to be a day of freezing fog anyway. 

In the afternoon, watched a recording of two authors speaking about the creative process.  Which I’d missed on Sunday morning due to reading in bed and ignoring the alarm I had set on the phone to remind me about the event.  I always feel guilty that I don’t have any questions for folk on those live things anyway, and can’t abide the ‘chat’ function popping up like a gopher while people are speaking. 

Anyway, listening to artists speaking about their creative process is usually inspiring, and this talk was no exception.  Discovered a ‘dribble’ is a 50 word story, a ‘drabble’ is a 100 word story, and that 300 words is a ‘trabble’.  (For fiction: “One-fourth character, one-fourth setting, one-fourth point of view, one-fourth plot”).  Who says YouTube is a black hole. 

The creative beings in question were Jackie Morris, and a new author to me, Nick Bantock.  Both are illustrators as well as writers. 

Enjoyed listening, but by evening had fallen into a fug of self-judgement about my wasted ‘not doing’ days, no painting. 

Finishing those Christmas cards today!

YouTube of the interview