WXR 2025 Wrap-Up – Q&A Style
I’ve had a great time!
It’s not quite over. We still have this last day. A couple of meals, a farewell party, and then tomorrow we disembark and make our various ways home. Melissa, Mike, and I will get our rental car and drive back to Sacramento. Most other people will be flying back to their homes. And then we all have the weekend to recover.
I think I’ll pretend this post is a sort of Q&A.
What has the cruise been like for you this year?
It’s been really nice. I think this is the first year I’ve struck a really good balance between productivity and play time. Including notes and blog posts, I think I’ve written around 10k words this week. In the evenings, I’ve hung out with friends, played games, or just relaxed.
Melissa has expressed a sentiment that we didn’t spend as much time together as we have on other cruises. The main reason for that is that I’ve gone into a “writing cave” several times on the cruise. Neither one of us drink much, so we didn’t spend any time at the R Bar with the rest of the writers. We’ve had some time together, but we mostly went different directions this cruise. Since we were wanting to do different things all week, I think that’s okay.
What have you been working on?
I’m so glad you asked! I’ve continued to advance The Psychic on the Jury, adding around 8k words to this first draft. The really big thing I’ve done, though, is I completed the outline. I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about the outline for this story before. I banged my head on it for months, not really making much progress, until I eventually gave up on it altogether. I figured that a Mel Walker story is one that must be discovered more than planned.
After getting into it for a bit and finally meeting Holly on the page, I cracked the code to this story. I see the whole thing now, beginning, middle, and end. And I like it! I think this is going to be a really good story. I’m not sure how I feel about this first draft so far, but as I keep telling people, artistry happens during revision. The first draft just has to exist. And, thanks to this cruise, a lot more of it has come into existence.
There are some really fun characters in this story. There’s one or two I haven’t seen on the page yet, but I think I know what they’re going to be like. One psychic named Kyle is going to be particularly interesting to write, since he is such an asshole.
If you’re a writer and you have an opportunity to join Writing Excuses for one of their retreats, I highly recommend it. In the past, they’ve had a few smaller ones on land, like when we went to Bear Lake in Utah and got up close and personal with horses and falcons. The cruise has left out of LA for the last two years, and I have heard reliable rumors that next year, it will be leaving from somewhere else. Not Texas, and not Florida.
How have you been really?
Well, I have had internet access the entire time, so I’ve been able to peek out from beneath my security blanket and observe the stupid, stupid world.
We boarded a big cruise ship and isolated ourselves from the world, but I still carry my brain gremlins wherever I go. For the most part, I was able to stay distracted with writing and fun, but there were moments when I slowed down a little and felt some feelings, not all of which were nice.
I hit a couple of low points throughout the week, and I’m on the verge of one now. Why am I feeling low? Because of everything. The world is on fire and run by the stupidest people to ever seek office. The publishing world is whacky. Tech bros want to eliminate all of my favorite activities using spicy spellcheck. There are real, terrible things going on and at the same time, my brain likes to chew on things that aren’t real. Things like, “No one likes you” and “You’re not good enough” and “You deserve to be alone.”
Why do I do this to myself? I don’t know. Am I going to seek help for any of it? Probably not.
It’s all stacked on top of each other. One of the ways in which the world is broken is healthcare. People get sick, and they have to start a GoFundMe just to get basic levels of care. The economy is on the precipice, my current job and the job I wish I had are both in danger, and it seems like I’m one broken tooth or bout of depression away from managed healthcare hoovering up all our savings.
One night, I stood along the railings, watching the dark water churn beneath the ship, and I thought I saw a hint of our future. Not just mine, but yours, too. We’re all going to wind up under the water, desperately trying to get our heads above so we can breathe. Some will pull others down in their desperate efforts. Some will swim the wrong way. There is so much needless struggling in front of us. It could have all been avoided.
Well. That’s enough of that.
I really did have had a good time. Good people. Good writing.
I’ve missed pretty much all of the classes, but they’re getting recorded, and I think I’m making the right choice. During the time when the class is being recorded, I have the energy and opportunity to write. Later, when I’m at home and feeling like I’m drowning in work, I’ll be able to put on the videos of the class. Maybe that will inspire me to get back to writing.
I hope you’ve all had a good week. It’s sad to see this cruise coming to an end, but I’m also looking forward to getting home to my kids and my cats and familiar rooms.
I also have to get back home and finish the keyboard. Someone is going to win it tonight. I need to finish it and send it to them, because they’ve earned it.