Stephen King’s excellent book called, On Writing says it clearly; Read, Write and Walk.  Other writing books package the same advice in different guises but they almost all can be reduced to his concise admonition.

I am happy to report that I just finished another hour and a half walk on the gorgeous Santa Rosa beach, this time with Jack Riggs, the wonderful writer from Georgia who is here to help us at this almost-finished Write by the Water retreat.

He had made careful notes on my opening chapter pages and helped me see where it needed to be fleshed out, where I’d dropped the narrative thread, where a scene didn’t make sense because I hadn’t set up an explanatory scene to introduce the character and where sentences worked and description worked and where they didn’t…in short, it was a great private workshop and an invaluable send-off from this five-days of sunshine, friendship and writing.

I wrote in the Write by the Water comment book that I felt like we’d become a writerly version of Friends or something. People are coming and going, talking and writing. Theyeither sequester themselves in their room or on a deck or another space or they gather in the kitchen to have a snack and have a chat.

Time has gone by very fast but also felt huge and expansive. It’s weird but I kind of feel like I actually live here. It doesn’t really feel like a Florida beach vacation as much as my Florida new life 🙂

I’m almost packed. Just have to return my bike and then when Kevin comes to pick me up I’ll start a whole other wonderful life. 

Forget those silly cats and their paltry nine lives. I’ve definitely got them beat.

I get to have about a million different lives and the next one will be starting this afternoon when that tall gorgeous man shows up to whisk me away to start the next adventure.