olivia

Jun 18 2012

Writing

Blogging and the Writing Process: My Evolving Mass of Words

Blogging makes the writing process different. It is faster, without the ongoing revisions and drafts that other writing generally entails. For me, this is sometimes challenging. I find myself wanting to obsessively reread everything I post, hung up on word choice, grammatical errors, and length, realizing ten minutes after I walk away from the computer that I left some gaping hole for all to see.

While this can feel very vulnerable, blogging can also be the rare opportunity to just get your words out, perfect or not. For me, it is also an exercise in moving away from perfectionism, something necessary to improving my voice as a writer. And, it provides the opportunity for instant collaboration that does not always occur in the regular drafting process.

As such, I’ve decided to be brave about blogging my pitch for my query as it improves, (or worsens, depending on the day). I am working on it bit by bit as I digest feedback and finish polishing my manuscript. The feedback is amazingly helpful, gradually resulting in a transformation that I am excited about, (even if somedays I totally mess it up as part of the process).

So, if you’re interested to watch this evolution, I will keep editing here:

https://oliviaobryon.com/2012/06/16/drafts-and-drafts-and-drafts/

I am not so self-absorbed as to imagine that people care to watch it change, but somehow its existence as an evolving mass of words in a public space is liberating for me.

Tagged Blogging, Novel, Pitch, query, Writing

Jun 17 2012

5 Comments

Health, Life

Hot Yoga: A Lesson in Anxiety

Today I overcame my fear of suffocating heat. I went to hot yoga. It was 105 degrees and I had to be talked into it, by three people. Before I left my house, I almost bailed. I was having real anxiety about not being able to breathe in a hot, crowded room.

One of my first real anxiety attacks occurred in a small, hot space. I was on a mini-bus in Madrid. Poor planning left the interior of the bus heated to over 100 degrees when we boarded. Silly girl that I was, I sat in the last row, where the air strained to reach me. It was my first real taste of claustrophobia. I thought I was going to pass out. I almost asked the bus driver to pull over so that I could get off. I survived by closing my eyes and breathing.

Anxiety is a funny thing. I remember going to the doctor in my late teens and describing some of my phantom symptoms: random dizziness, upset stomach, shortness of breath. The doctor asked if I had anxiety. I said no. I really did not think that I did. By the time I reached 25, I figured it out. I had anxiety, he was right all along, I just could not believe that something in my head could have so much control over my body. I refused to medicate. I was determined to overcome it by myself.

Flash forward a few years and most of the time I do overcome it. I read a lot of books and realized that I need to face my fears. This may seem simple, but real anxiety can be debilitating. There were days that it was easier to hide from everything, to avoid life. I had a week-long anxiety attack when I quit my job and started my teaching program, but I just kept trucking. If I ever get a tattoo, it will say “Be brave.”

So, yesterday, when I felt anxiety’s nasty little symptoms creeping in, I knew what I was dealing with. That’s half the battle, knowing your enemy. The other half is facing it. No matter how much my stomach hurt or I could not sleep thinking about it, I had to go to hot yoga. And, yes, there were moments when I felt like I was going to pass out, when I sat on the floor and closed my eyes and breathed while everyone else kept moving. But, I also caught myself smiling as I fought through it. Anxiety wins if it stops me from doing something new, I win when I do it anyway. Today, I’m happy to report I kicked anxiety’s ass.

I survived hot yoga, drenched in sweat, but smiling.

Tagged Anxiety, Bikram, fitness, hot yoga, mental health, yoga

Jun 16 2012

9 Comments

Writing

Drafts and drafts and drafts

As mentioned in newer posts, this is my evolving (or devolving, depending on the day) description of my novel. It is a work-in-progress that will hopefully come together once my book is officially ready to submit. If you have any helpful suggestions, I am always excited to listen.

Expecting Happiness

Kristen and Jake used to be like many other young married couples. Despite their love for one another, they somehow found themselves stuck in windowless cubes, trudging to meaningless jobs, grasping for purpose. That is, until a failed pregnancy changed everything.

Acutely aware of their unhappiness, Kristen and Jake say “Fuck it all.” They quit their jobs and sell their house to embark on separate journeys. Instead of traveling together, they seek time apart, unwilling to compromise their visions of self-discovery. While Jake, a lanky but attractive runner, heads across country by car, intent to live out his fantasy of solitude on the open road, Kristen, a self-conscious contrast of dark hair blue eyes, departs for Europe, searching for independence even as she inches her way closer to an old flame living in Paris.

New friendships, passions, and adventures abound along the way. Torn between the allure of the unknown and their unrelenting longing for one another, each must ultimately decide which life holds the secret to greater happiness.

Tagged book pitch, drafts, Expecting Happiness, Novel, query, Writing

Jun 15 2012

bird by cat

“I wanted him to have a regular job where he put on a necktie and went off somewhere with the other fathers and sat in a little office and smoked. But the idea of spending entire days in someone else’s office doing someone else’s work did not suit my father’s soul. I think it would have killed him… So I grew up around this man who sat in the study all day and wrote books…” – Anne Lamott, bird by bird

Two pages in and Anne Lamott already has me figured out. I’m adding this book, recommended by two of my lovely novel readers, to my small pile that I’m reading simultaneously, (Snow Child and Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking). I think I must have a very advanced form of ADHD because I find myself alternating between reading multiple books, working on my novel, and blogging all within the same afternoon. I’m okay with it though. I like the writing that is coming out of all of this, even if it’s progressing slowly.

Luna is already loving up on bird by bird too… And, yes, I appreciate the irony of the cat and title.

Tagged bird by bird, Cats, Distractions, Novel, Pets, Summer

Jun 15 2012

4 Comments

Life, Writing

adventures in blogging

Welcoming another Blogger convert to WordPress! Hope you enjoy your new blog home Regina! 😀

runningmylifemyworld

Today I had the lovely pleasure

of sipping some coffee and discussing the how-to’s

of blogging with a few friends

at this rockin coffee shop,

Weatherstone, Old Soul.

I am here to announce that I am abandoning

my Blogspot blog and am now

moving my sweet little blog to WordPress!

The adventure continues!

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Tagged Blogging, Friends, Old Soul at Weatherstone, Sac Girls' Blogging Club

Jun 15 2012

14 Comments

Life, Writing

Hurray for the Sac Girls’ Blogging Club!

Today was the inaugural meeting of the Sac Girls’ Blogging Club. My apologies to any other club with the same name, we did not steal it from you and chances are we’d love to join forces with you if you really exist.

When people in my real life discovered that I had a blog, I started to get a lot of questions about how things work. I also discovered the blogs of some other pretty cool people that I already knew beyond the computer screen. Brainstorming with a friend about blogs, the idea dawned on us– we need to start a nerdy girls’ blogging club!

So, today, three of us met at Old Soul in Sac and talked WordPress vs. Blogger, WordPress navigation, site monetization, and guest blogging. One of us is now even a WordPress convert, but we’ll wait until her style changes are ready to unveil her new WordPress home. We also chatted about teaching, reading, summer plans, exactly the social vision that I imagined for such a club.

Now, we have the goal to make our little club a weekly occurrence. Even if it only ends up happening a couple times a month, I’m excited. It’s nice to connect in real life with the faces behind the stories we read online. If you’re a chick in the Sacramento area and feel like joining us, let us know! Sorry men, it’s not that we don’t like you, it’s just that we feel safer connecting with women in person, (and, besides, you’re probably not interested in all of our chatter anyway!).

Happy blogging!

Girl Bloggers Unite! 😀

Tagged Blogger, Blogging, Friends, Old Soul at Weatherstone, Sac Girls' Blogging Club, Sacramento, Summer, WordPress

Jun 14 2012

I just sat and listened…

In my old life, I belonged to a secret club of commuters. I woke up three mornings a week at a quarter to six, caught the 7AM train from Sacramento to Richmond, then took BART to Berkeley and walked to work. Door-to-door, my commute took two hours and twenty minutes each way. I left the house each morning at 6:40 AM and returned each evening a little before 8PM. I only intended to do this for a couple of months, but thanks to the bad economy I did it for almost one year.

A few rides into my new routine, I discovered that I was not alone. There were dozens of people that rode the same route, some taking the train all the way down to San Jose or switching to a bus in Emeryville headed for downtown San Francisco. We were all part of the same club, regardless of the length of our commute. Many riders had been doing it for years, if not decades. All had their own reasons. Cheaper housing, spouses employed in Sacramento, kids attending certain schools, students unwilling to relocate.

The ambassador for the club was a little old Indian man who introduced himself the first time he spotted my 10-ride pass. He asked me questions about my life, sized me up to figure out how long I would last. Many commuters did not make it. They quit before it ever became a routine. But this little old man showed me the way of the train. He made sure I knew about the secret commuter club parties– birthdays, anniversaries, engagements, all celebrated by the veteran commuters on a pre-planned car of the train. They even threw a holiday party, complete with alcohol and dancing. My little old friend was reputed to be quite the drunken dancer.

Introvert that I am, I avoided becoming a true member of the club. I preferred to finish up my daily analyst work, read novels, write, and listen. And, boy did I listen. I heard so much on that train. I listened to men and women start extramarital affairs. I eavesdropped on conversations about healthy eating, train track suicides, inner-club gossip. I knew who was supposed to be the bitch and who was losing custody of their kids. Turns out people talk a lot when they sit on the train. They also do their makeup, curl their hair, and drink, a lot.

I never knew that this little club of commuter warriors existed until I became a temporary interloper. But, if you ever take Amtrak from Sacramento to the Bay Area, they are there, living out a portion of their lives on the train. To make things more bearable, they have formed an eclectic little family. If you stop to look and listen, you will find them. I do not miss my commute, but I am grateful to know the secrets of the train.

My commuter badge of honor.

Tagged Amtrak, Bay Area, Berkeley, Commute, Sacramento, San Francisco, Train, Work

Jun 14 2012

8 Comments

Life, Travel, Writing

Going Back to Spain

I’m finally back into a groove with my writing. I know where I want to add scenes, I’m living in my story. I see everything so differently than when I began. If I could start over, my writing would be better. I’m not patient enough to start over, so hopefully this will be good enough.

This afternoon I’m expanding a scene in Barcelona. It’s evening, my female protagonist is exploring the city with a new friend. In order to write, I first needed to crawl back into my own memories of Spain. Part of the reason that I chose to send my characters on journeys was so that I could have their adventures with them. I want this to feel authentic, so I need to remember.

To help me go back, I pulled out my old photo album from my summer spent studying abroad in Spain seven years ago. A lot has changed since then. My boyfriend is now my husband. We both look older. The photographs were taken with film, the color and clarity is disappointing, (especially after scanning). Instead of blogging, I wrote my family weekly emails, which are stapled together in the back of my album:

“Alex and I have reached our last stop together and it is going to be very hard to say goodbye… Paris was beautiful and the people were much friendlier than we expected… Madrid really comes alive at night and Alex and I enjoyed a three hour goodbye dinner in La Plaza Mayor.”

“I made it safely to Burgos and have a nice little room with a bathroom all to myself… It is strange being entirely alone in a foreign country.”

“At home when I go out with friends we leave around 9:30, here things do not get going until 2:00 in the morning and people stay out until it is light out… Spaniards actually do dance moves as opposed to standing around kind of moving, and everyone sings along to songs in the bars. ‘La Camisa Negra’ is still stuck in my head… The city is so alive at night and all kinds of people are out, young and old.”

“I thought it was funny today when we were walking and I found a flyer for where to buy pimps and hoes garb, a theme that sadly the clubs must have decided sells well to American college students.”

“Last night we took an evening bus back to Burgos from Barcelona. The Northern Spanish countryside at dusk was incredible. As it got dark we even saw lightning storms.”

That summer changed my life. Rome, Venice, Cinque Terre, Paris, Madrid, Burgos, Barcelona, Bilbao, Salamanca. I learned to travel alone. I made new friends and confirmed my love for travel, (until that point it was all in my head). I have been back to Europe twice since then, but nothing will ever compare to that first long adventure. Fortunately, I can always go back with words, pictures, and “La Camisa Negra.”

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Tagged Backpacking, Barcelona, Burgos, Novel, Spain, Study Abroad, Summer, Travel

Jun 13 2012

1 Comment

Life, Style

Pretty Summer Hair in Five Minutes

Gentlemen readers, unless you are fabulous hair dressers or dads in charge of the morning hair routine (mine was, and boy was he proud when he discovered the flip through ponytail!), this post is probably not for you.

Ladies and hair-interested men, listen up.

I discovered my secret to summer hair. It only took me 28 years, (which is okay, because it took me 26 years to learn how to wear makeup). I have never been high maintenance with my hair and have always envied girls that make looking put together seem effortless. That’s the beauty of this discovery– it is almost effortless. All you need is wet hair and the ability to start a french braid, (even if that ability stops as soon as those first three strands are started, which it does in my case).

The secret:

1. Start one french braid at the crown of the head to one side or your part, (the part does not need to be in the center, in fact I think it’s cuter if one side ends up with more play).

2. Instead of continuing a french braid all of the way down, just use those first three braid pieces to make a regular braid down the back of the head, (you’ll end up with one small braid). Rubber band at the end for now.

3. Do the the same thing to the other side, creating a second small braid to the other side of your part. You should still have about half of your hair left unbraided since you did not continue french braids all the way down.

4. Remove rubber bands from the braids and combine with the remaining hair to twist into one bun, (today I varied this by braiding the two small braids with the remaining hair into one long braid before twisting into the bun, either works well).

5. Ta-da! Your hair is now summer ready, (great for swimming, or still looking pulled together without having to blow dry). BONUS: After your hair dries, you have a second wavy look for later, (which I’m noticing is really in right now).

The braids create a relaxed but pretty summer look that is really hard to mess up, (if I can do it, you can do it!).

Reminds me a little of the coveted renaissance fair braids growing up, very sweet and romantic.

I love that this is something I can actually successfully do to my own hair in five minutes. Had to include this shot for my creepy evil eye.

Tagged Beauty, Braids, Hair, Summer, Swimming

Jun 12 2012

2 Comments

Health, Home, Life, Teaching, Writing

Notebooks, Notebooks Everywhere!

I don’t keep a diary or a journal. I do keep notebooks and notebooks full of lists, ideas, quotes, and little pieces of inspiration. I recently read that both adults and children that keep gratitude journals are happier and healthier. That’s what my notebooks are for me, little conscious reminders to live life and be happy. I encourage some of my students to do the same thing and am planning to make a more concerted whole class effort next school year.

Interestingly, these notebooks helped to pull me out of my darkest moments and are now an integral part of my life. At yoga last night, I realized that I need to start bringing a notebook to class so that I can jot down all of the ideas that come to me while I’m out living life. Others might think I’m strange, but I swear by these little notes to myself. They keep me creative, inspired, planned, and happy. They help me shape my own reality.

My current rotation of notebooks.

I use my notebooks to collect quotes…

: And brainstorm life choices. This was before quitting my old job, I like how I thought there was a magic answer.

Happy little inspiration scribbles…

Plans for the future, (Six Weeks is now Expecting Happiness)…

And, today’s list, plans to finish my book with help from my lovely readers. Thanks ladies!

Tagged Expecting Happiness, Gratitude, Happiness, Inspiration, Notebooks, Novel, Planning, Writing

Jun 12 2012

6 Comments

Writing

Writing in Layers: How do you decide when you’re done?

Does anyone else feel like their writing evolves in layers?

Each time I reread my work, I add more and take more away, sculpting it into something new, something better. I’m afraid I’ll never know when I’m done this way.

How do you decide when you’re done? Set yourself deadlines? Read a certain number of times? Share with a set number of readers? Stay as long as it remains enjoyable?

I thought I would be done in two weeks, but now that I’ve crawled back inside, I could probably live here a lot longer.

Tagged Expecting Happiness, Novel, Revising, Writing

Jun 12 2012

oliviaobryon

Writer. Teacher. Occasional Traveler.

Author Archives: olivia

Blogging and the Writing Process: My Evolving Mass of Words

Hot Yoga: A Lesson in Anxiety

Drafts and drafts and drafts

bird by cat

adventures in blogging

Hurray for the Sac Girls’ Blogging Club!

I just sat and listened…

Going Back to Spain

Pretty Summer Hair in Five Minutes

Notebooks, Notebooks Everywhere!

Writing in Layers: How do you decide when you’re done?