I managed to stop worrying about work long enough to force myself to work on a short story. I've been planning the story for a few days now, but today was the first time I managed to write anything.

Today's total: 953 words

( boring reflections on writing )

The written word
Should be as clean as a bone,
Clear as light,
Firm as a stone.
Two words are not
As good as one.

Thanks to medievalist for posting this. I've written it on a little note and tacked it up in my cubicle.

For many years I have wanted to Be A Writer. Truth told, I sometimes think of little else. Constantly turning over the idea in my mind... how wonderful to be the author of a lovely fairy tale, a short book told in twelve chapters, that would win the Newbery Medal, be treasured by millions of kids and parents alike, and that would naturally be made ( Read more... )

I am wracked with this, wanting to express Something and unable to say Anything, longing to communicate but voiceless. It feels exactly like a hamster chewing on my soul.

I just don't have enough to say--as much as I want to say it.

Anything I do say has to pass The Editor. And she's become so ruthless...

A very wise comment from Nobody Here, and something I need to consider carefully:

Random thoughts on simple yarnspinningWhen I was a child, the people who wrote the books that meant the world to me were tantamount to angels. As I grew and started to think, as most mortals do, about what contribution I might make with my life, what I might leave ( Read more... )

Thanks to Mike F. for pointing me to "How To Be Creative". This is my favorite Rule thus far:

6. Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.Then when you hit puberty they take the crayons away and replace them with books on algebra etc. Being suddenly hit years later with the creative bug is just a wee voice ( Read more... )

Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.

-- Gene Fowler

A tale from which pieces have been raked out is like a fire that has been poked. One does not know that the operation has been performed, but every one feels the effect.

-- Rudyard Kipling

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to write 100 words every day. This is one of the resolutions I have the least hope of fulfilling, because it is by far the most ambitious. In fact, I seriously considered giving up before the first day was out. But here I am, writing 100 words. The idea is to get in the habit of writing every night, even if it’s ( Read more... )

I've decided that writing whole books is for loonies. I'd much rather read them. Instead, I will take David's advice and just write short stories ( Read more... )