life atop the roof

these photos were made by our neighbours.

October 2006. the roof is not yet ready. we are treating the wooden frame with a sulphurous mixture in order to protect it from fungi.

December 2009. watch the trail of a squirrel from the pine up the roof. you may want to click on the photos for details.

January 2010. smoke from the chimney indicates that we bake something in the oven, or we felt cold; or both. you know our oven provides heat for the rooms, but also we can use it for cooking or baking.

too much or to little?

when thoughts attack and inspiration fuels my artistic stumbling, i write.

-

sometimes the events and actions are so alive and intense that i feel a need to guide the reader through it all - but i don't think it works all the time at all. neither is a desireable thing in writing. there has to be something left out for the reader to imagine.

this technique can easily result in an over-explained text that is too dull and complex to follow.

-

some other times however, i feel that since i, the writer do not know all the things about what's going on, plus some things are more than obvious, i have this tendency to omit some details - but this may risk continuity. i, the writer know about the surrounding and background story that explains/supports the events/actions, but what is obvious for me may not be clear for the reader.

-

there must be a fine balance...
i think revision is one solution to this dilemma.

hm, i wish i wrote more to see which type of mistake is more frequent in my writing... ;)

and you? how about your tendencies?

do you think there is an antidote to either of these mistakes besides revision and lots of reading of good literature?

-

in the meantime i'm off to write...

no, this time it's for money and the subject is table grapes, and their home-scale production.

halo

I think I have just finished with the first draft of Halo. I started writing it in late 2007, stopped writing around March 2008 and never have added more than a couple of words and or done some minor revisions ever since. but this last December I decided to stop dragging writing anymore, put the delay to an end and voilá.

now I've got 7488 words, out of which 2207 was added in the last week. this is my longest ever writing. revisions might take more than half of it away, but still.

I think I'm just learning. I hope I do.

beta readers are kindly invited...

more information on the project is available on my other blog.

-

we have started learning Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols this week. If there is a virtual purring insert one hearty one to visualize my feelings about being on the path to be able to properly sing it. just yum. yum.

you can watch some of the pieces on YouTube.

-
so, I'll definitely let Halo rest for a couple of days.
in the meanwhile, be sure to visit Jason's contest named 'Silhouette'.

happy new year!

photos made by the wife of the host of the party that was held to celebrate the ending of 2009 and the arrival of 2010. these New Year's Eve parties are called Silvester Parties in Hungary. enjoy the photos. the first one (above the text) was made with long exposition. it's me and my husband dancing. it's amazing how the wall behind us is visible through our bodies. I find it quite amazing. the other three photos were made in the garden.