Looking towards Riddlesden

Sketch a day - Day 142/365

Today I fannied around, fiddling with a scene that I have written already, because I didn't know how to start the scene that I actually needed to start writing.

Sometimes I feel like my experience of writing is a bit like being all the twittering spinster side kick parts in a Jane Austen novel. Constantly chirruping ‘more tea?’ and ‘but have you ever seen such a beautiful day, dear Miss Woodhouse? Would it not be excellent to walk a little in the meadows, before luncheon?’ All the while, the better part of my brain is saying ‘ No Miss Bates, we must hurry to church to pray for this fucking play we are meant to be writing! Good day, dear friend, I must away’.

I should say I love Jane Austen and I think those who do not, should have a firm word with themselves. She lays bare the systemic inequalities of her time by writing strictly within the spaces allowed for women to have agency within. And yet fully shows how ludicrous those structures are. Genius is used to often but if anyone is, it's our Jane.

But I digress. I was telling you about the day I have had trying to battle my brain into writing the scene that is frightening me the most. Right at the very end of the day I found a way to start. And splurged out 2 pages of mess. But the relief. Because I can work with a mess. I just can't work with a blank page.

So phew.

In-between times, I had conversations about the Otherhood show copy and marketing picture (so so strange to be doing that while writing the first draft) with the Otherhood team. We also looked at final tweaks for our Old Bird theatre company logo (all shall be revealed soon soon soon) and I did a MAP walk. Not a long one. But a beautiful one.

I walked up to the little moor above Micklethwaite to visit some of the teenage oaks up there (see earlier posts). I always feel calmer when I have visited these trees.

And then finally this evening some ideas arrived.

And then I did my drawing of the view looking towards Riddlesden from Micklethwaite lane (that I saw as I walked up to the hill) That’s the news.