a week as a writer/carpenter

a week as a writer/carpenter

hey there friends,

last week I missed out posting because well…I was in “the land without internet”!!! haha as strange and removed as that might sound, it was actually just in Northern California. And I was only a 20 minute drive or so from actually having internet.

going from “always connected” to without cell, internet, and even regular phone service was a bit of a system shock. not only that, but I was the only one staying at the house…so I was super isolated in general.

which was ok. I had two main goals for the trip.

1.) Install banisters on the front porch
2.) write a new screenplay

and for the next 4 days, I ate, slept, wrote, and carpentered (is that even a word??).

here’s what I started out with:

original
original front

and here’s what I ended with:

final
finished front

the writing was all done in the kitchen. it is after all, closest to the food…and coffee. also, the nook was right next to the wall heater and was probably the warmest parts of the house.

the kitchen
kitchen & nook

I didn’t do my writing on this…but you gotta love seeing a Candy iMac still around. reminds me of an Apple Jolly Rancher.

writing nook- before

overall, the writing actually went really well. it took a couple days to get into the story, but after that it really started to flow.

my schedule would be something like:

wakeup
coffee/write
breakfast
carpentry
lunch
nap
carpentry
write
dinner
write
sleep.

I should have liked to do an after-nap writing session, but two things prevented this.

1.) it got dark at 5pm
2.) I’m not a very fast carpenter – so I needed as much daylight as possible.

the trip taught me a few things. first off, if I really truly dedicate myself to writing I can get a whole lot done. but, being alone in Sheep Ranch gets lonely! I’d love to go back with a group of writers. during the day we could all split off and do our own thing then meet up for meals. hmmm…

it was great being cut off from the distractions of the modern age, but at the same time I missed the social aspects of being so connected. perhaps having a few friends up there would be the best of both worlds.

an added bonus was that early December is a very beautiful time to be in the foothills of Northern California. colors in the trees, blue skies, crisp air, and guests of wind would send leaves showing down all around you. plus the roads are really fun to drive.

the barn in fall

-Luke

3 Comments
  • Clovis Blackwell
    Posted at 21:53h, 11 December Reply

    Do they have to be writers? Sheep Ranch Artist Residency?

    • Luke
      Posted at 10:39h, 12 December Reply

      no, not at all!

      I think it would actually be really great to have people working on different sorts of things.

  • Pingback:scruffy nerf filmmaker » writer slash ski-bum
    Posted at 18:46h, 26 April Reply

    […] snowboarding, editing and writing. it was a really great and refreshing trip – not unlike my Sheep Ranch trip last year. the main difference here was instead of working on a house I was going snowboarding..and I […]

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