I have a great idea for a short story. Really, I do. In my head, it sounds great. When I explain it, it sounds cool.
As we quickly learn when we write, ideas are a dime a dozen and an idea alone is not what makes a good story.
I have a great idea for a short story. Really, I do. In my head, it sounds great. When I explain it, it sounds cool.
As we quickly learn when we write, ideas are a dime a dozen and an idea alone is not what makes a good story.
I’m overdue on re-reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I wanted to write a little update on everything.
Things are progressing apace. I’m almost done my second pass through Revenant. I’m hoping to get to some writing on that soon. I really want to be able to send it out this year.
Outside of editting, I was hit by a great idea for a short story that I’m calling “The Hunter”. I’ve started working on that a bit. In my head, as I play with it, I’m enjoying the fact that it can work equally well as a fantasy or as science fiction. I might write both for giggles and bits.
The big news is that I’ve signed up for a Writer’s Workshop at The Thomas More Institute here in town. It’s a small group, led by published authors and it turns out I already have one of the class book assignments on my Kindle app (I don’t know if they’ll insist I buy a physical copy, we’ll see). The price isn’t too expensive and from the curriculum I think I will get a lot out of it.
The only thing not really working right now is that I’m not keeping up my word count. I’m still writing daily, but there’s been more than a few 300 word days. This will change.
Reading wise, I’ve been rather voracious. I’ve gone through Southern Gods by John Horner Jacods, the Matt Richter novels by Tim Waggoner (just finished Dark War) and On Writing (which I start over and over and never finish, this time I finished it).
I’m not much for reviews, but for what it’s worth, I highly recommend the Matt Richter novels (Nekropolis, Dead Streets and Dark War). They are light, well written and well paced and the setting is well thought out and interesting. Southern Gods was also very well written and I liked the idea of a story set in the post WWII south, but it was “sold” to me as an exploration of blues legends, kind of a delta blues fantasy/horror story which I thought would be neat. It turns out it really isn’t like that and while it was still good, I was slightly disappointed and the ending scenes were a little too gory for my tastes.
I can’t stop laughing at this and now I know I’ll be fighting the urge to try it all morning.
I finished the first draft of my latest novel yesterday. One hundred and two thousand words (it had reached 106K at some point on the weekend but I trashed a scene that really didn’t work for me at all).
Now I can write whatever I want!
I hate that.
This is a dangerous time.
Something strange is happening. It’s all part of experience and the learning process but I want to share, in case someone else sees these words and perhaps learns from what I experience and learn. If no one does, writing still has value in that it helps me get it straight in my own head.
The summer was tough but incredibly beneficial to me. I learned a lot.
Still, it was an incredible relief to reach August 30th and the 100K goal.
It’s the aftermath that’s tricky to deal with.
I’m still working on the manuscript. As I stated to a friend, I’ve given up all pretense of following my (admittedly poor) outline and I’m discovery writing at this point. I’m on what I think is the last chapter, so I should be completing the work momentarily.
I’ve had a bit of a writing break over Labour Day weekend. These weekends tend to be very full for me and I didn’t even see the inside of The Basement Office (much less sat down to write) until Monday evening.
The immediate priority is to keep from doing what I did early August. I do not want a small break to turn into a big one. I wrote a little last night and I intend to write tonight.
I just wish it wasn’t such a DAY.
Yesterday was the fourth anniversary of meeting my wife, today I’d like to take the time and wish her Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday Jess! You have proven to me that my dreams can come true (and three of them already have because of you) and your unwavering, unconditional, uncompromising support is the core of my being. I may not be able to make all your wishes come true, but I will always want to and try to.
Without her, I would not be the person I am now.