Butterflies or Broomsticks: The Discipline of Freelance Writing

Today it will be a broomstick. Since starting to do freelance writing, I have come to realise that writing takes a lot more discipline than I thought when starting out. Deadlines are the essence of freelance projects and sometimes it takes more out of me than I would care to admit. Since I do the writing part-time (yes, I do have a full-time job) sitting down in front of my computer after a hard day at work, is not always easy.

Aside from the deadlines that loom over my head, the subject matter can be either difficult to just be excited about, or takes a few hours of research to get the facts straight. And then I still have to write the required number of words for each article. The hardest is where the project requires many articles on the same subject, and then the creative juices tend to run a little thin after a while.

What I did learn, and really appreciate, is the discipline. Yes, I know, I am repeating myself here, but this time it is not a complaint. It takes practice to keep writing fit, and when a creative thought does enter my mind, it is not that difficult to sit down and do an outline or plot for a new story.

Practice makes perfect, and keeping to my target of 1000 words per day (in any month other than November) is not as hard any more.

So if you are freelance writing, or writing your own short stories (or novel) take the time and write your word target everyday. You will find that soon enough it is part of your routine and the discipline so deeply ingrained that the novel gets written much faster than you planned for.

Surprise Visitors

While having coffee with friends today, the coffee shop where we like to meet had three surprise visitors today. These three lions cubs, two males and a female, are just seven weeks old and they stole our hearts right away.

They came to the city to visit their vet and while their owners had breakfast, these cuties were quietly crawling into our hearts. Used to human touch they let us pet them, and didn't mind the camera flashes too much.

They had just fed are were lazy only like a well-fed cat can be. But they did play around a while and then cuddled up again to do what baby animals do - sleep. They are cute now, but soon they will become the predator that earned its fearsome reputation for a reason. Enjoy, we did!

Pen, Paper and Stamps

When was the last time you penned a letter? A real, honest pen-to-paper letter. Stuck it in an envelope, added a stamp and mailed it to someone. For me it has been years. Literally. Until February came around in the form of A Month of Letters. How I came across the blog, I cannot remember, but I do remember the thrill of opening those first letters.

I registered late, and only in time to be going away for work, and to places with no internet access. But once I was back, I was like a kid with a new toy when those first letters appeared in my mailbox. Of course, I planned to write to my fellow contributors, but they were too fast for me. I had fun replying to the ones I did receive, and then penned a few more of my own.

The biggest problem I had - finding greeting cards to write on. And after a week of shopping still didn't find any. People simply do not write any more. Even postcards seemed to have been relegated to the malls at the airports. So paper and envelope it was.

I love my email, and do get many each day, but the letters (even from strangers) has a little something extra that just make them special. It was sent to me. Written specially for me. So go on, dust off that pen, dig out some paper and write someone a letter today. Who knows, you might make some new friends - just like I did.

Cover of Géra's Gift

Well, I got the final graphic design for Géra's Gift today. It took a few weeks, and some very amateurish drawing skills on may part to get poor Jana (the graphic artist) to interpret what was going on in my head.

And I have to say I like it. The background can serve as the cover for the next installment in the series. I will then only change the details for the specific novel - in this case the two shields on the front part of the cover.

The lettering still needs to be added, but I will leave that for a surprise - cannot have all the book's secrets revealed before publishing.

With the interior of the book also complete, it is now off to final layout, and then publication. It seemed so long ago when this process started, and now it is almost done. The suspense is killing me :-)

Book Covers and Write-ins

Sometimes it is still hard to think that Géra's Gift is almost ready for publication. I am just waiting for the cover design to be finished (I had some minor comments) and then it can be printed. Not just literally of course, as it will be an eBook too, but the butterflies are breeding in my stomach.

While I cannot wait, writing life goes on. Yesterday, I joined a few writer friends for a writing session at my favourite coffee shop. Now I know what John Scalzi wrote about notebooks and coffee shops (and the jury is still out on that one), but we had a great time. One friend wrote more than 3000 words, the other two were busy editing their manuscripts. I had to fix my computer first (need to check it before the next session) but still managed about 2200 words in the six hours.

We do take breaks, and chat and drink coffee, but the objective to write together seems to be working well. And the next session is hopefully going to be another great success. By that time I might claim to be published, and my friends might already be well on their way to saying the same thing.

This year has started on a very good note for the first Random House-Struik Writers Group of 2011.

Acrylics and Mosaics

Finally, I managed to finish this painting. It went well until I made a mess of the last two blocks that had to be painted. It took some fiddling to remove the splotches that I caused, but then how to finish it?

It took some hard thinking, until inspiration struck about two weeks ago - why not use tiny gold metallic mosaic tiles to finish what I couldn't seem to get right with paint?

I wasn't sure it would work, but the guy at the craft shop assured me that the tiles could be glued on over the acrylic paint, and he was right. Some hours, and lots of patient tiling later, the result was better than I had originally imagined.

Now it needs the final layer of preserving varnish, and off to the framers we go.

And to think the design was inspired by a piece of discarded packaging material that I saw lying next to the road.

Nocturnal Visitor

On Friday this nocturnal visitor found itself resting on the rooftop of my house and driving my dogs insane. A juvenile, judging by its size, Giant Eagle Owl made its way to my home in the middle of the day in scorching temperatures.

At over 30 deg C, this little visitor excited my dogs so much that I had to go and have a look at what was causing the commotion. Initially I thought it was injured, because it sat with one wing spread out over the hot roof. Then it moved around, and I realized that it was only trying to keep cool.

A few minutes later it made its way to this tree branch, giving me enough time to grab my camera and take a few pictures.

Of course, presenting me with its backside wasn't making it any easier. Until I realized that the tiny beeps the camera made when focusing, drew its attention. With its sensitive hearing, I managed to making it look at me without scaring it away, and the result, as seen here, is just one of many that I managed to capture.

The light was difficult because of the shadows of the tree and the sun almost directly in my line of vision. Changing the settings of the camera to ISO 200, shooting aperture priority, the details became clearer.

This photo was taken at approx 400mm zoom without a tripod, with a Lumix Panasonic FZ-40. The picture was not edited, only re-sized.