By Sunday is my favorite day of the week. Growing up with a Judeo-Christian background, Sundays meant special breakfast, church, and no chores except for feeding the animals, of which there were many. Sunday evenings were spent watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and The Wide World of Disney.
Sunday was and is a day of rest, so even though I show up for Bootcamp today I have a more laid back feeling about it, ready for the “resting” part of the DIY retreat. As long as it is up to me, I will not make myself do anything I don’t love today.
Rhonda, being a bit of a rule maven, broke out the Rules of the Draft today. There are 8. I won’t go over them all, but the first one brings me back to why I committed to a DIY Writing Retreat this week: Avoid anything that is not writing.
I’m okay with some rules. In fact I was doing fine until Rule #7: No more research. I’m pretty sure I deserve an exception, and I’ve curbed my research urge quite a bit already. I only do research now in the afternoon after my writing sessions are done… ideally. But Rhonda, somewhat hard-hearted sounding, says No. Just stop it. She knows my research forays lead me astray (and also to France and Amsterdam, twice each already this year, and England too, attending a weekend workshop she taught…I like research scavenger hunts, in the original locations; there’s just so much to know).
I love research, went to a research university, and later taught college research writing. It might be that I write so I have reasons to dive into research, finding out about subjects such as education and opportunities for women in 1880s France; this is important information for my novel.
Rhonda says, Enough already.
I’ve resisted research today. I’m resting from it, thinking about Rhonda’s edict and how or if it might serve me. But it’s still Sunday, so I don’t want to think too hard. Like Scarlet O’Hara, I’ll think about that tomorrow, when it’s no longer Sunday.