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The Wordwitch: A Writer’s Life in Pictures – June

It’s time for another month’s summary of the Wordwitch pictures, so if you missed any on Twitter and Facebook, or you aren’t a social media animal to begin with, you can find the June drawings below.

As always, I hope these pictures will make you smile, and maybe you’ll be able to relate to some of them as well.

Busy

I thought I had the day under control, steadily working and on top of all my planned tasks. Then an email happened and another… And suddenly, this is how I feel.

Novel Surgery

Working on multiple projects means I’m always in the revision mode with one thing or another.

Last week I had to rewrite a whole scene, because the character behavior wasn’t consistent – at the same time keeping most of the information in the dialogue and other bits necessary for the overall story. When I sat down to do it, it felt just like I imagine performing a major surgery would feel.

The River of Tea

Sometimes sailing isn’t very smooth, but it’s still better to travel down the River of Tea (or Coffee) through the Writing Realm than go on foot through the unknown lands.

This picture was fun to draw and I have JR Bee to thank for the idea.

Write Me Down!

Yes. This is how it usually goes. I got better with writing down the ideas or at least really remembering them, but every now and then… that brilliant idea is gone, because I didn’t write it down.


If you’d like to be up to date with this series, you can head over to my Facebook Page every Tuesday or check Twitter for #thewordwitch hashtag. You can also browse other posts from the series.

Joanna Maciejewska

Joanna Maciejewska is a fantasy and science fiction author who enjoys all things SFF: books, movies, and video games. Her short stories appeared in magazines and anthologies in Polish and in English. Her epic fantasy adventure series, starting with By the Pact, is available in ebook and paperback at all major retailers.

This Post Has 16 Comments

  1. sjhigbee

    Are you sure you weren’t perched on my shoulder living my life this last month, Joanna. Bringing out the last book in the Sunblinded trilgoy meant that I was up to my elbows in messy edits, fuelled by tea AND I had a killer idea that I KEEP meaning to write down because I’m SURE I’ll never forget it… Love the drawings:))

    1. Melfka

      I’d say I’m glad my pictures managed to match your life, but at the same time, I didn’t wish messy edits upon you (I do wish rivers of tea, though!).
      I hope the idea got written down, Sarah! If not, go and write it down, please!

      1. sjhigbee

        *cue slightly hysterical laughter* Messy edits don’t come close! Miranda is driving me NUTS, however I’m taking a break to clear my head and will return during the summer to get a detailed outline written… As for the idea – yes! I’ve safely written it down…

  2. Susan Ekins

    Love the writerly humor in these. I could relate to all of them. Regarding “Write Me Down,” I hope the priest doesn’t notice when I pull out a piece of paper and a pen during a church service to write down an idea.

    1. Melfka

      I’m glad you enjoyed them, Susan, and thank you for stopping by!
      I hope that if the priest ever notices you writing, he’ll think you’re jotting down the thoughts from the sermon!

  3. J.R.Bee

    I’ve learned the hard way The “I’m sure I’ll remember it” are famous last words. Mind you, at least I can’t remember how awesome or otherwise the ideas I’ve forgotten are…

    1. Melfka

      I sometimes have the very intention of writing the idea down, but can’t do it immediately (showering, driving, etc.), and then poof! It’s suddenly gone.

      1. J.R.Bee

        Or I’ll memorise it and then think, “good, I can get on with things now” and it turns out that the brains version of memorising turns out to be to visualise it very clearly, think I’ve noted down what its said, and then delete it.

  4. Alchemy Ocelot

    Oh, I can so relate to every single on of these. Love your drawings.

    With fuel I prefer to start the day with two espressos, then pump it up with black Turkish tea until my synapses tingle. Tea holds me longer, but coffee wakes me better.

    Life: “You meet 6D6 Procrastri-Goblins.”
    Me: “I will NOT reinstall Elder Scrolls to defeat them.”

    1. Melfka

      Wow, that’s a lot of caffeine. I try to keep to one cup per day (and let’s not mention the fact that my mug has “soup” written on it…).
      And sometimes, a bit of procrastination is good. Though I try to be productive even when I game. Elder Scrolls Online usually provides me entertainment during my workout.

      1. Alchemy Ocelot

        I tried the cup-a-day policy. “Not with me,” Coffee said and poured. You see, he’s Italian.

        Elder Scrolls Online? I’m not even touching any online games. I lost too many friends to them. They’re like human-eating plants that lure you with skinner-boxes full of loot. It’s like Facebook, only with swords.
        Don’t get me wrong. I would love to hike across Vvardenfell. Ah, Sadrith Mora. Home, sweet home.
        How do you combine Elder Scrolls and workout?

        1. Melfka

          Back when I was working full time, 2 cups of coffee PLUS 2-3 of tea were standard. But back then I was also sleeping roughly for 4-5h a night at maximum.
          Working in the gaming industry gave me a unique perspective on MMOs, and I don’t really get addicted anymore.
          I use an elliptical for part of my workout, and it’s set in front of the tv, so I can either watch something or game while I use it. Since it’s hard to find a good series nowadays, I usually switch a game on. Played a lot of Skyrim this way too, and some other games. As long as it’s not some crazy-paced action game requiring a lot of precision, it’s fine.

          1. Alchemy Ocelot

            Fair enough. I guess MMOs are just not my thing. I once tried WOW and it ended in me meditatively strolling through a town, whose idyllic landscape was broken by its inhabitants sprinting back and forth as if on crack. I played an Orc Shaman by the name of Shrroom. He blamed it on the tea. In the end I quit, never looked back.
            Addiction problems I have with games which are too good for me, especially those with no obvious ending. Elder Scrolls, Mount & Blade. Nowadays I occasionally get back into Elder Scrolls (as a tourist). Speaking of Elder Scrolls: did you play Enderal? It’s a standalone game built as a total conversion mod for Skyrim and it has an awesome story.

          2. Melfka

            I mostly treat MMOs like single-player games anyway – away from the trading centers, they’re nice and empty, and quiet, and still full of stories.
            I don’t play them much anymore because of time constraints, but back when I worked in the industry, I was more active in some. It helped with translation a lot.
            I play Skyrim on a console, so I don’t really play or use mods. I know they introduced them for PS4, but with so little time, I never bothered checking them.
            And if you like Mount&Blade, my friend had been working on a mod for English Civil War: https://www.moddb.com/mods/english-civil-war

  5. saraletourneau

    The River of Tea needs to be real. Enough said. XD 🙂 All of the drawings are wonderful, but that one is definitely my favorite. Thanks for continuing to share them!

    1. Melfka

      Agreed! With a tour cup-shaped boat where everybody gets a cup to scoop out some tea straight from the river whenever they want to. 🙂
      And I’m glad you’re enjoying the pictures, Sara. People’s response to them is fueling my motivation to draw more.

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