Starting the first draft

I’ve now conducted ten interviews, and have seven transcripts back for review. That is a good chunk of material. So I am taking a day or two to figure out how the material I have so far fits into the existing chapter outline. I am also drafting a prototype chapter, testing ways to integrate the interview material into what I’m writing. It’s a complex and mentally laborious process, full of questions. The chapters are currently written in narrative style – me talking to the reader. What will happen to the style and tone if I introduce more voices? Do I want that? Will I have to rewrite all the chapters if I do? What if….and the list goes on.

This is a complex problem, so I’m dealing with it the same way I deal with most complex problems: think it through while doing something mindless with my hands. In this particular case, I spent an hour making French onion soup, slowly stirring a pot full of onions as they caramelized on the stove. I put the outline of the chapter on the unlit burner next to the pot with the onions, stirring it with my brain as my hands stirred the onions. At the end of the hour, I had worked out most of the questions and their cascading impacts. (And I had tasty onion soup!)

So now I’m starting to write the prototype chapter, and outline the rest of the book. The two  together are quite a job, and I expect it to take me a few days. It’s brain-intensive work, so I’m working on it in the mornings, when I have better focus.

I’m also prepping for more interviews, as I have one scheduled for tomorrow and two more on Tuesday. After that I will take a few days off from interviewing, as I focus on finishing the draft chapter. I plan to pick up interviewing again on October 15.

Meanwhile, I have a little vacation planned. Two friends and I are going to Covelo, California next week for a three-day private class with John Marshall! We’ll primarily be studying katazome, with maybe a little indigo thrown in. We’re leaving this coming Friday and returning Monday night. I’m really excited. I took a two-day katazome workshop with Karen Miller last year, and think the techniques have all sorts of interesting possibilities, especially when combined with handwoven fabric. And John’s work is simply beautiful. Here (with permission) are photos of one of his pieces, taken when I was visiting last year:

I particularly love John’s sense of color – his colors blend and harmonize beautifully. I’m looking forward to studying with him!

On the weaving front, I have been sneaking out to resley the shadow weave warp every couple hours, when I need a break from writing. So I’m making good progress:

I’ve sleyed twenty-four inches, and have sixteen inches to go. That is about two more hours of work, so I’m guessing I will finish tonight or tomorrow. (Rome wasn’t built in a day, either!)

And what, pray tell, are the cats doing? As I type, they are chasing each other around the house like crazy. They’re quite the pair. Here they are, teaming up on a hapless piece of string: