Live: From The Depths of The Rabbit Hole

 I thought it would be fun to blog live from the depths of The Melbourne Rabbit Hole at The Emerging Writers’ Festival.

For a few reasons, but first and foremost is so I don’t loose my mind.

Hilariously ironic given the theme of Alice in Wonderland, however last night we kicked it off with two hours and in those two hours I racked up 3,128 words (hooray!) however I did start to get that sinking feeling when you know something is going to go wrong.

It was very smash this stuff out and although the first leg was two hours (technically a bit less by the time the host said some words etc) and I was already feeling like this weekend is going to be very long indeed.

And I’m cheating: I have to leave today at about 3.30pm, 3.45pm because I have to go to work.

In the beginning, I didn’t want to, but after last night I think I’ll be counting down the minutes…

It’s kind of daunting, and even with only doing two hours it’s a small snap-shot in what it must be like to write full-time.

Just you and the computer, baby.

Anyway, let’s get this live feed underway.

I shall be posting the times and my word counts/thoughts/what songs I’m listening to etc.

10am: It really dawned on me while driving here this morning – well, I already knew, but it really made me stop and thinking – that I don’t have the voice for this story yet. And that is making it all the more harder to write.

10.10am: It’s breakfast time, so I’m eating a Freddo Frog and drinking an orange juice #healthy

12.23pm: Okay, I just took a two-hour break to attend the Planet EWF Bloggers brunch. I have come to accept the fact that I’m not going to get anywhere near the 30,000 total. So perhaps I should think of a new goal. 10,000? 15,000?

12.24pm: Back to it!

12.43pm: Someone in the Melbourne team has hit 10,000 words. THAT IS INSANE.

12.45pm: I’ve decided to can what I was working on, as I don’t have the voice and it’s killing me. A painful waste of time. Instead, I’m working on my WIP that I’d editing however I’m writing extra scenes in another document so it still counts towards the total. Who knows, maybe at a later time I’ll go back to it but currently I could be spending my time moving forward, doing half-decent stuff.

12.48pm: Decide to add one song to my writing music playlist and instead accidentally add Florence + The Machine’s entire catalogue. DAMMIT! It proves quicker to make another playlist with the songs I want than to go through and delete Florence. Sigh.

12.56pm: Cannot believe it’s almost 1pm and I’ve done almost nothing. On the plus side, the Bloggers Brunch was a brilliant discussion of all things blogging: reviewing, money, posting, time and effort, and lots more. It was totally worth missing out on Rabbit Hole time for.

1.36pm: Usually I’m the sort of person who can listen to the same one or say, three songs on repeat for hours on end. Today, however it’s annoying me *changes playlist* Okay, it’s The Virgin Suicides soundtrack time. First up? ‘Everything You’ve Done Wrong’ by Sloan. It’s so happy and cheery with a nice beat. I really love this soundtrack.

1.47pm: This is completely more daunting than I thought it would be. Have decided that I will never, ever, be a 100% stay-at-home full-time writer. Never. Even when I spend hours on end working at home, I juggle a host of tasks at once: website stuff, content for website, uni work, manuscript writing and editing, book reviews, email people, update social media, to-do lists, work on other projects. Hmm, maybe if I keep this mentality up, and work on lots of things at once. But straight writing? Probably not going to happen.

1.48pm: Heart is on, and I just want to dance. That’s the problem being in this room full of people for The Rabbit Hole, see. When I get stuck I usually dance around my house. But I can’t do that here.

1:49pm: Am wondering if I can include this blog entry in my daily word count. It’s 701 words so far, I think it would be only fair enough…

1.51pm: LET ME GO CRAZY, CRAZY ON YOU! (Bonus points for knowing what that is, rather than thinking I’m going crazy on everyone. Which I still might, you know.)

1.59pm: A gathering of angels appeared above my bed, and sang to me this song of hope… Come sail away, come sail away with me.

2.21pm: A girl opposite me is writing long hand. She’s already clocked over 5,000 words. THIS IS A HUGE THING, PEOPLE. She deserves a prize of her own.

2.28pm: I’m leaving in just over and hour; let’s see if I can smash this out. 2,000 words maybe? IT’S ON, LAPTOP. LET’S SEE WHAT YOU CAN DO.

2.56pm: Okay, 2,000 words isn’t going to happen. Let’s be realistic. Maybe another 500 words before I go? 750? Half an hour…

3.08pm: My WIP is one big ‘Gonna Get Over You’, Sara Bareilles. And I say, ohhhh, how am I gunna get over you?

3.10pm: All I want to do is dance! Damn this working with other people. Tempted to go into the loo’s to dance…

3.20pm: The last ten minutes. Word tally: 2,786. That’s not the daily total, just the total since I stopped working on the last project. I’m not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, I am happy I’m working on this, but on the other hand, not even 3,000 words is pathetic in the grand scheme of 30,000 goal. I need to let go of my competitiveness! Easier said than done…

… And I think this is the perfect place to stop the live blogging!

I’m off to work now but will be back tomorrow at ten am to continue into the depths of this Rabbit Hole.

On Twitter? Check us out at #rabbithole & #ewf12.

Okay, be honest. Your day hasn’t been half as productive, has it?