Writing, and stuff
These weeks certainly have gone by quickly since my last post. Two weekends at least without seeing Casey. I really do miss her, but I've been taking the time apart to my advantage.
I've decided to try and write at least 1000 words of some kind each day with Sundays optionally off. I put this forth because it is wonderfully creative and it was something I realized that I knew but didn't acknowledge. What made me acknowledge it was having read it and a bunch of other suggestions from a book called 'On Writing,' by Stephen King. Now originally I was a bit dubious regarding it since, while I love Stephen King's work (well, most of it anyway,) he is predominantly a pulp fiction writer in the final analysis. Some of his work does arguably stand out, but he is no Emerson. Even he knows this. He writes (in his own words) the 'Big Mac 'n' Fries' of literature. And I was shocked to find myself agreeing with Roger Ebert's review of his book 'On Writing' as "... after finding that his book On Writing had more useful and observant things to say about the craft than any book since Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, I have gotten over my own snobbery."
It is part biopic, part informative and very candid. He does not pander to anyone in his writing and only gives his informed decision as he sees what writing is and what his opinion on the subject is. The result is that I've finished two short stories (or at least the first drafts of which) in the last week and have been going over my goal of 1000 words a day and hitting anywhere from 1500 - 2000 words. I also find myself agreeing with him in regards to his thought on plot. I rarely spend much time thinking too much about the plot unless it is one or two stories that I've come up with way ahead of time. Well... I should say that I have a general idea of the plot, but i don't roadmap it out all the time; instead of focusing on all of that, I just write and see where the narrative takes me. Many times I find myself very surprised with the results and a few times it ends exactly where I intended (which surprises me even more.)
I also agree with him regarding the 'shelving period.' Once a story is finished, short story, novel, screenplay et.al., shelf it for at least six weeks. But not too much longer than six weeks. That way the idea is still in your head, but when you pull it off the shelf and review it, you can see what your mistakes are with fresh eyes. You know you wrote it, but it feels as though it may have been by someone else a bit as well which helps depersonalize the review process since you'll be more apt to want to cut the shit out of it if necessary.
The first story I did is about a man who inherits the 'keys' to his family's estate (read: empire) and doesn't want it, but knows that he is the only one who is responsible enough to run it with respect. The second is about an IT manager who is not interested in his work. Instead he doesn't want to get promoted and doesn't want to get noticed. That would require him to go to meetings and no longer be able to do the minimal amount to ensure his underling get the trouble-tickets handled in good, proper time. If he went to meetings it would mean that he no longer would be able to actively defend our world from the denizens of a nether-world; a portal to which he found in the form of a doorway in a seemingly neglected/forgotten hallway in the basement of the law firm that he works at.
I'll be starting a new short story today. I'm finding that with short stories, the best thing I can do right now is to come up with a character and a situation (absurd, normal, whatever.) Then I just start typing and see what happens. The goal, as always, is to keep it short and concise which for me can be a bit of a challenge since it seems like a lot of my work can have a tendency to get long and protracted. Short stories are hard, novellas and novels are easy in comparison I think.
Also have a new pastel piece that I'm almost finished with. It started out as something in my head and has quickly become something that will probably be filed under 'retry again later.' It wasn't as clear as Exiting Paradise. I have one right now that is pretty clear, I just need to focus a bit on exaggerated forms and I'll be able to begin.
I've decided to try and write at least 1000 words of some kind each day with Sundays optionally off. I put this forth because it is wonderfully creative and it was something I realized that I knew but didn't acknowledge. What made me acknowledge it was having read it and a bunch of other suggestions from a book called 'On Writing,' by Stephen King. Now originally I was a bit dubious regarding it since, while I love Stephen King's work (well, most of it anyway,) he is predominantly a pulp fiction writer in the final analysis. Some of his work does arguably stand out, but he is no Emerson. Even he knows this. He writes (in his own words) the 'Big Mac 'n' Fries' of literature. And I was shocked to find myself agreeing with Roger Ebert's review of his book 'On Writing' as "... after finding that his book On Writing had more useful and observant things to say about the craft than any book since Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, I have gotten over my own snobbery."
It is part biopic, part informative and very candid. He does not pander to anyone in his writing and only gives his informed decision as he sees what writing is and what his opinion on the subject is. The result is that I've finished two short stories (or at least the first drafts of which) in the last week and have been going over my goal of 1000 words a day and hitting anywhere from 1500 - 2000 words. I also find myself agreeing with him in regards to his thought on plot. I rarely spend much time thinking too much about the plot unless it is one or two stories that I've come up with way ahead of time. Well... I should say that I have a general idea of the plot, but i don't roadmap it out all the time; instead of focusing on all of that, I just write and see where the narrative takes me. Many times I find myself very surprised with the results and a few times it ends exactly where I intended (which surprises me even more.)
I also agree with him regarding the 'shelving period.' Once a story is finished, short story, novel, screenplay et.al., shelf it for at least six weeks. But not too much longer than six weeks. That way the idea is still in your head, but when you pull it off the shelf and review it, you can see what your mistakes are with fresh eyes. You know you wrote it, but it feels as though it may have been by someone else a bit as well which helps depersonalize the review process since you'll be more apt to want to cut the shit out of it if necessary.
The first story I did is about a man who inherits the 'keys' to his family's estate (read: empire) and doesn't want it, but knows that he is the only one who is responsible enough to run it with respect. The second is about an IT manager who is not interested in his work. Instead he doesn't want to get promoted and doesn't want to get noticed. That would require him to go to meetings and no longer be able to do the minimal amount to ensure his underling get the trouble-tickets handled in good, proper time. If he went to meetings it would mean that he no longer would be able to actively defend our world from the denizens of a nether-world; a portal to which he found in the form of a doorway in a seemingly neglected/forgotten hallway in the basement of the law firm that he works at.
I'll be starting a new short story today. I'm finding that with short stories, the best thing I can do right now is to come up with a character and a situation (absurd, normal, whatever.) Then I just start typing and see what happens. The goal, as always, is to keep it short and concise which for me can be a bit of a challenge since it seems like a lot of my work can have a tendency to get long and protracted. Short stories are hard, novellas and novels are easy in comparison I think.
Also have a new pastel piece that I'm almost finished with. It started out as something in my head and has quickly become something that will probably be filed under 'retry again later.' It wasn't as clear as Exiting Paradise. I have one right now that is pretty clear, I just need to focus a bit on exaggerated forms and I'll be able to begin.