Chapter Eight - Part One - Planning an Orchard

Planning an orchard from square one is rather daunting as I look at the field today. I am not a farmer. I didn't grow up on a farm. I like eating good things. I appreciate fields. I am a writer. I grew up in a family that certainly read. My father wrote columns for various newspapers in Colorado under the pen name "Big Mama World". That's as close as I come to a genetic understanding of writing. It wasn't really the formation of a writer who would naturally choose to envision a huge project.

As I research the metaphor of planting peaches I discover clues that might help me to write a project that will have a life of its own. Apparently, starting an orchard requires as much planning as writing a screenplay, or a series of screenplays require. I'm intimidated, but curious about both. Remembering this is likely a mistake, that will become a brick on my yellow brick road is tentatively soothing.

One thing that most new screenwriters fall into thinking is that they'll write a script in a few weeks, send it off and it will be bought, of course, and be in the movie theaters next year. Error! At least, I've been in the business long enough to understand that writing a script itself takes a year, and seeing it become an actual film can take a minimum of three years, and as many as ten years, if ever at all. Turns out, the same thing with orchards! So you have to have in place a long-term plan where you can survive the interim years while the orchard is maturing to a state of fruition.

For me, the comfortable amount of time to develop the kinds of stories I want to develop and write them and see them bear fruit feels like a decade. A decade??? Geez. How can that be? But, it is true. I don't really expect to see the fullness of my work expressed for 10 years. There may be initial crops in three to five years, but the full production of what I envision will take a decade at least. And, when I envision where I want to be in a decade, sitting in a mature orchard seems right.

The things I will look at in my long-term, decade long plan, are:

What is the market these days for both publishing and the movie industry? (If there is no market for fruit, guess what the farmer has to do? EAT IT!)

Who are my consumers? What are they interested in?

What can I do to improve the conditions of my fields (my creative quotient, my space, my time) so that the orchard (the new franchise) has the best possibility of growing?

How are my finances situated to support a long-term endeavor like this? What can I do to shore that up without endangering the entire project?

How can I get better equipment (new laptop, new printer, new software) to work this orchard?

Then eventually I have to look at the trees that I'll plant and their needs. I'll need to understand varieties and rootstocks that are available to me as a writer.

For writing the pollination of a project is getting it from manuscript/script form to published and produced. I don't want to plant show trees, that bloom and bloom and never produce the messy fruit. I want the messy fruit, and so I will need collaborators including agent(s), lawyers, editor(s), proofreader(s) and even mentor(s) who have some experience with this kind of project. Lots of busy bees to at some point add to the solitary writer's life.

I'll be picking these details apart in the next few months I imagine. Stay tuned if you're interested in the process...;)

Chapter Seven - Part Three - Needs of the Crop

Everything about thinking about planting an orchard appeals to me at the moment. Orchards exist in climates that I like: Tropical, Subtropical and moderate climates, near ample water and there seem to be lots of different ways of approaching planning an orchard. You can even mix species like quince and apples, for instance. You can plant orchards more like a forest, making them ecologically friendly with a more diverse environment, and still get good fruit production. Orchards, as I've tried to emphasize before, can be shared by a larger community, too. All of these are wonderful metaphors for what I dream my writing could be with some planning. Orchards can survive for multiple generations and serve as habitats for animals and birds that are losing ground to ugly housing developments. Orchards have substance.

When I dream of people reading my work, then it my hope is that the experience is something like sitting in a summer orchard, hearing birds twerp and the rustle of animals, seeing the shadows cast by leaves and branches on patches of earth and grass, feeling the breeze upon their cheeks, looking up through the deep greens back-lit by the sun, and enjoying the scent of ripening fruit. Not too much to ask, right? Living in the world as it is now, it is so easy to lose track of these simple pleasures, and my hope is that my stories will evoke a desire for more peace, even as they examine our problems and needs. For every orchard has more than one season, and every orchard faces challenges, but in the end there is hopefully fruit to share.

In China, peaches are a symbol of longevity. They originated in China as long ago as the 10th century BC. They came to the Americas on Spanish galleons in the 16th century, and were spread by Native Americans on their wanderings. The culture of peaches includes a temperate zone that encircles the earth, and they've grown in most of the places where I have actually lived. So, it is the peach that will serve as my metaphoric orchard in writing this new world. We'll see what we learn from the planning I need for this crop.

The first good thing about peaches that I see is that they need more nitrogen (fertilizer) than other crops. This is good because I've fertilized the heck out of my field. Giggle. So I hope that when I can dig up the soil and test it that it will prove to be in good condition for the kind of crop I'm thinking of planting.

Peach orchards need lots of sun and a good breeze to keep cold air from settling in on the trees. How as a writer can I bring that material light and mental flow to my practice? I suppose it might be time to think about my workspace and the mental inspirations that I let into that space. In my case, because our family lives in an apartment, and my office is in the living room, it will come down to timing. When I write I will need good light, and also quiet -- which means when the kids are around I probably won't be using the space to write. This means when the kids are around, I'll need to either write before they rise in the morning or after they sleep at night. Since my husband is a night owl, who enjoys watching anime into the wee hours, that leaves me the early morning to create a regular writing practice. It simply is what it is. If I am to have this writing dream grow, I have to commit to creating the right conditions for it. Sigh. This somewhat feels like a sacrifice, but perhaps, I need to realize it is not forever. I am not always a morning person, but I can see the logic in becoming one for the sake of this project.

There is so much to think about as I plan my orchard of writing. It feels good to have a plan, if not actual growth of the product at the moment.