Easter Bower 2020

Welcome to the landing page for #EasterBower20 Writing Bootcamp!

The metaphor of the Bower comes from the blue Satin Bowerbird of Australia, who hops A lovely dark blue Satin Bowerbirdaround looking for blue shiny things with which to craft his bower. He’s Lou’s companion species and you can read more about him here and here.

The #EasterBower Writing Bootcamp will run 9am-12noon every weekday during the Easter holidays, including Good Friday and Easter Monday. It follows the #JoyFEIdeasRoom between 8am and 8.50am (giving you time to grab a brew).

 

When do I write?

Meet at 9am in theZoom Room for three succinct opening rounds – or contribute via Twitter using the hashtag #EasterBower (due to changes at Zoom you’ll need to DM Lou on Twitter or WhatsApp 07779135201 for the password). The questions are:

Where do you want to get to today?

What are your milestones?

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How will you reward yourself?

This is your chance to say anything from “I want to write 500 words on…” to “I want to finish an article about…” – and the great thing is we get to hear what you’re working on. You might even be working something up from the #JoyFEIdeasRoom!

Then we each go away and write for a bit. We’ll have a yoga break halfway through with Adriene 😊

Where do I write?

Up to you! You can scribble in a journal with a pen (you’ll have to maimg_2569nually count the words though). You can open a word doc. Some people (not me) like Scrivener.

It’s a great opportunity to write with someone else – don’t mess about with emails and version control, share a googledoc.

If you want to do your own thing with others present, why not open up a page in the Bower? It’s a googlesite where we all have a page and you can choose how visible that page is – to everyone in the world or just the other people in the Bower. You can also invite appreciation or critique.

How do I write?

Switching the internal editor/impostor off is what bootcamp is all about. Over the years, we’ve learned that these things can help:

  1. Switch social media notifications off (if – like me – you’re not disciplined enough for this, try a blocking app such as Freedom). Maybe even switch the internet off? 💁🏻
  2. Set yourself a word challenge. It doesn’t matter if its 50 words or 5000, we are not in competition with each other and you know your own pace.
  3. Take focus breaks. Pomodoro apps can be really helpful. Take a long break every 196477445_1165e6eeff_mcouple of hours at least.
  4. Don’t edit as you go along. Just let the words flow, even ifthey are nonsense – you can go back and edit later. If you’re stuck on a word, don’t look it up. Have a consistent word that you substitute, you can pick it up later in Find (I use FISH).
  5. Avoid procrastination. If you like to do a mind map before you start, do it beforehand. This is not the time to be letting your thoughts wander to that cupboard under the stairs.

What do I write?

Well now, that’s up to you 😘