Tuesday, May 8, 2007

first drafts

i have no patience for details when the entire story is still untold. i rush through the first 1500 words. i prepare the foundation. it is my least favorite part, no matter how much i want to write a particular story. writing first drafts literally makes my head hurt.

i just finished a first draft. i've been living with this story in my head for a week. the draft is so bad, i can't even read it. and as it is almost 1AM, i am sure i won't be able to focus on it either. yet i know that tomorrow and in the next days i will settle with it, read it slowly, fiddle with each sentence, start adding details, and the story will grow, and i will be enjoying it. the story will probably change, morph into something slightly different. this will also be fun, invigorating, all-consuming.

night night.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

my most amusing rejection so far

i got an email rejection from a lit mag today.

Sorry to say no to both - nice, but not really for us. I would urge you, though, to enter our contest with them.

the entry fee is $30. is he asking (urging) for a bribe, or a donation?

i've been interviewed!

read it on Kelly Spitzer's site!

i talk about growing up in the USSR, life on Baffin island, my short story collection, my plans for my novel, and there is a photo of me too.

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

forcing myself

last night, as i was putting my kids to bed, my eyes were heavy, my head throbbing. they had been sick with a stomach bug, waking up several times at night, demanding things in half delirious whining self pity. i don't blame them, but i was exhausted. yet i told myself to get up and write. and i did.

at first i stared at the screen. i had an idea for a long story, but i had no stamina to even think about it. i told myself to write something short, even if a paragraph. nothing came to mind. i forced myself to think of an image. i searched my blank mind.

an image came. then sentence by sentence i wrote a flash. i loved how a coherent piece came to life, from a single, fuzzy image. i will need to work on it, but I'm glad i gave myself that chance.

Tonight I wrote another flash.

I think it is important to write everyday, even if my mind seems to be blank at first, even if i'm tired. i seem to be doing better at making myself write first drafts, which are the hardest for me. some of it is just practice.

good night.

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

average monthly temperatures and hours of daylight for Iqaluit

Average Monthly Temperatures

January -25.8C (-14.4F)
February -26.8C (-16.24F)
March -23.5C (-10.3F)
April -14.7C (5.54F)
May -4.2C (24.43F)
June 3.4C (38.12F)
July 7.7C (45.86F)
August 6.8C (44.24F)
September 2.3C (36.14F)
October -4.9C (23.18F)
November -12.7C (9.4F)
December -22.1C (-7.78F)

Hours of Sunlight Per Day

January, 6.12
February, 8.8
March, 11.78
April, 14.4
May, 17.86
June, 19.2
July, 18.83
August, 16.01
September, 12.97
October, 9.92
November, 6.99
December, 5.13