Varuna: A Great Place to Start

‘I need a blog!’ I told Jin, web designer and founder at Jin & Co. ‘An author blog!’

I was (hopefully) a little more polite than that, but I definitely asked Jin for a blog, and he definitely created one, and this is it, right here, on my new author website (which he also created … thank you, Jin! Sorry I broke it within 10 minutes, but I like to think that’s some kind of technological-kiss-of-death record).

So now my author website is live (woop!) and the blog exists, and I’m free to fill it with posts about…

Writing?

Writing aspirations?

Writing process?

How it feels to stare into the white abyss of an empty Word doc and feel time itself staring back at you?

(Wait – that was an episode of Doctor Who.)

The sloppy, soul-sucking hot mess that is writing a first draft? The addictive lasagne-layering process of redrafting, and redrafting, and redrafting?

I know … I should have considered this before I asked for a blog.

I just got excited.

I may touch on one or all of those topics at some point, but a first post is at least partly about the establishment of intent, and thus it is invariably the most uncomfortable to write. Not root-canal uncomfortable, but mildly-invasive uncomfortable, because you’re still digging around inside your own brain trying to figure out what it is you want to share; whether it’s worth sharing or if it’s simply you oversharing; whether the world already has more than enough author blogs (probably), and whether anyone will even read it. And if you venture too far down that mental rabbit hole, you smash headfirst into writer’s paralysis and exactly zero blog posts.

To circumvent that scenario, I’ve decided to start with something simple: a basic update on where I’m at with my writing.

As luck would have it, I’ve just arrived at Varuna, the Writer’s House, for my second-ever visit, armed with what feels like ten kilos of stationery, one small ceramic bear (a story for another time), and a juicy Scrivener daily session target. I’m currently working on two story outlines (part two and part three of a YA series) and also drafting part two (very loose exploration writing … I find first draft writing often informs the outline as much as the outline shapes the draft).

Reading that back, it kind of sounds like a pressure cooker recipe for mental collapse. But nothing motivates me like a word count goal, a deadline, and uninterrupted time in an atmospheric, writer-friendly location.

Varuna has a unique energy that’s difficult to encapsulate. My best attempt is to say it’s a combination of creative generosity and community, steeped in layers of history and writing legacy (perhaps with a ghost or two … I do love a good ghost story). It’s a peaceful, nurturing place, and I feel very privileged to be back.

I have a quiet, private space. I have a large desk, a comfy chair, and a set of shelves groaning with dictionaries (Macquarie – my mum would approve). I have rain hitting the roof of the Jerra Studio (Jerra meaning star or stars in Gundungurra language), raucous frogs outside my window, and a week stretching ahead of me, waiting to be filled with words (and walks).

So, that’s where I’m at and it’s an amazing place to start.