sliding sideways – into the ‘art of moi’

Louise (Elle) and Sandra (Sash)

We’re sliding in sideways… into another blog. It’s called the art of moi, and it came out of us finding it so hard to make time to write. And we started asking ourselves when we might get around to it – since we seem to be driving the emergency response vehicle in everyone else’s lives.

The art of moi is about putting yourself back in the picture. It sounds very unhealthy, but it’s not about turning into divas. If it was, we’d have a long way to go.

We always seem to be working on finding time for ourselves, and getting past the guilt trippin’, so we figured you might be doing the same thing. That’s where it came from – who know’s where it’s going. Come along for the ride.

Visit http://artofmoi.wordpress.com, or follow us on http://twitter.com/artofmoi.

The writers’ lunch

Solving the fly problem, writer style!

There’s something a bit decadent about stealing a few hours for yourself – and your writing buddy. Sash and I do it (almost) every Tuesday, and it’s brilliant.

It took us a while to set aside that time to feed our creative souls – and we still feel a tiny bit guilty that we’re not generating an income sitting there!

Is it a woman thing? We’re so used to looking out for everyone else’s needs and being on-call 24/7, that taking time out for ourselves takes enormous determination.

And we both know, from our own experience and talking to so many fellow writers, that it’s why we feel we shouldn’t take the time to write.

I love what Louise Doughty says in her book A Novel in a Year:

“The problem…with getting started seemed to stem from a common need, the desire for someone else to give them permission to go ahead with an activity that neither settles the bills nor involves paying attention to those we love.

…Hell will freeze over before I spend a morning folding clothes and putting them away in drawers when I need to be writing instead. If my family want their clothes, they know to look on the laundry rack.”

Don’t you love it when someone makes such perfect sense?

Our Tuesday Collabs start with a Pilates session, then coffee and fabulous GF banana bread at our favourite cafe in West End. Or, like today, lunch.

We spend the time catching up, planning or doing our next collaborative writing project, talking about the manuscripts we’re working on… So far this year, we’ve written a short film script, made serious progress on our manuscripts, and come up with some fun writing plans (and dreams).

Today, a fly flew into Sash’s shiraz. I’m not sure if that’s a sign – but it involved laughter, so it must have been.

We solved the fly problem, writer style – with our coasters and pens. And we’re so busy being creative and motivated, there’s really not much time left, these days, for guilt trips.

elle & sash