found_drama

So…  Who wants to be my editor?  Agent?  Writing bully buddy?

I’m beginning to think that I need someone to assume an Authority Role and give me deadlines and direction.  After all, bosses work so well elsewhere, don’t they?  Setting my own goals for this whole writing thing only seems to get me so far.  There comes a time when you need a slave-driver to insist that your output isn’t enough, that a few sleepless nights are needed to meet the deadline, to demand a re-write of a pivotal scene that is barely a decent-enough start.

Of course, this will only work if there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.  Like a book publication that lands on shelves somewhere.  But for now a little arbitrary pushing and shoving might be a welcome motivator.

Staying committed to this writing craft is one of the hardest things to do.  It shouldn’t be, because it’s all passion and inspiration and “the thing that drives you” and all that.  At least it’s supposed to be.  But it’s also a long-arc game that requires patience and perseverance.  Especially if the writing winds up coming second to your other responsibilities.  Even when in your heart it comes first, it still comes second.

That said, I printed off some blank calendar sheets earlier this year.  March or April.  And every time I write, I get to put a “W” on that day of the calendar.  I told myself the “W” is earned after at least 60 minutes.  Then relaxed it to 30.  I can’t go any lower than that.  Except for those rare exceptions where 10 or 15 minutes really did produce something so much better than the previous night’s hour-long crap-fest.  But that’s helped.  More so than some chart, it’s been helpful to have these sheets laid out on the table, or stuck up on the refrigerator; the idea being that it’s visual and honest and everyone can see it.  Getting involved in an online writing group has helped a lot, too.  (Jib Writers: thank you.)

The bad news: that all of this still feels a million years away.  That every time I sit down, the words go nowhere.  That I’ll be stuck making this wish forever.

The good news: I know that none of that is true.  I’m sitting down and doing this writing thing pretty consistently.  I’m reaching out to other aspiring writers.  I’m reading a lot.  And I feel like maybe (just maybe) I’ll have something in print soon.  Hell, John (whom I’ve always thought of as one of my harshest critics) thinks that I’ve got a short story that is (in its current state) worth putting out for publication.

Finding the right market is probably going to be the hardest part there.

Which brings me to my new strategy.  Novels take a long time — to write, to place, to publish…  And though I have no intention of giving up on these grandiose projects of mine, I have also tried to focus in on shorter pieces.  I wouldn’t say that I’m reinventing myself (there wasn’t much invention in the first place) but after what feels like a decade of stabbing blindly in the novelist’s dark, there seems to be another path worth taking.  More of a supplementary path anyway.

Wish me luck.

Well, November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo, that is to say). Had a hell of a time of it last year¹– made it to 50,688 words in 25 days with what really did resemble a complete story by the end of it all. Still haven’t revisited that story as I’d planned to… but there’s plenty of time for that later.

Undecided if I’ll do it here in ‘07. The rules state that you need to start fresh — with a blank canvas notebook. In other words, you can’t just “continue” with something you’ve already got started. And as I’m 12,932 words² into my current project, that’s pretty much out. I may “follow along” and see if I can’t put 50k worth of material into the current project in the spirit of the ‘WriMo — but we’ll see… In any event: for those of y’all out there rocking the pen and paper (or word processor or whatever) in ‘07: have fun hitting the 50k. It’s a fun trip.

1. See also: NaNoWriMo 2006 photo set.[↩]
2. Approximately.[↩]

The writing outlining and revisions prep-work for the re-write of The Great Big Writing Project continue. Averaging somewhere in the 1-2 hour range each day. Working in these small chunks seems to be working. Concentrate on segments, do it in blocks. There’s an element of frustration in there too though; the small blocks of time are all I can manage but each one shapes up like this:

where did I leave off? > go from there > cross that out, that won’t work > but if I change this > BREAKTHROUGH! > churn-churn-churn… > run out of steam…

The breakthrough moment is if I’m lucky; having to double back and make sure things fit together is a common theme. Fortunately, this weekend had three such nice moments (at least one of which was an indirect result of forcing myself through a weird writing exercise on Thursday instead of working on the outline itself).

I’ve also made liberal use of the Oblique Strategies (with varying success) and assorted links to tips and phrases and “hacks” that I’ve accumulated as (how shall we put this?) fertilizer. I’ve set an arbitrary deadline of October 1st to wrap up the outline and start with the writing again. I think I can probably make that happen. Just need to work through this next part…¹

currently playing: Josh Wink & Dave Clarke “BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix”

1. Isn’t that an echo of the last five years?[↩]

• Six Lies About Creative Writing You Should Never Believe

  via lifehack.org

  (tags: writing lifehacks)

Find every hour.  Steal every weak-willed moment back from yourself for yourself.  Fit it in.  Make time.  Write it out until you stymie.  Try something new, something different.  Arrange.  Re-arrange.  Plan it but don’t over-plan it.  Grant yourself a concession (there’s only so many hours in the week, you know).  Don’t lament.  Ask different questions.  Ask for advice.  Deal from the bottom of the deck.  Make up rules so you can break them.  Free associate.  Roll dice.

It may not be what was said but it’s what I heard:

I worked at an engineering firm for fifteen years and there just wasn’t the time I needed to write.  So I gave that up, started this here and it’s worked out well.  And it’s fun, too.

• Pirates vs Ninjas

  via Ben Stumbles

  (tags: debate humor)

• Musicovery

  via Wick: interactive webRadio

  (tags: music visualization todo)

• Joby

  (tags: design photography tools todo)

• Territories Reimagined

  via Ballardian: the World of J.G. Ballard

  (tags: research)

• When Your Income From Investments Covers Your Living Expenses: The “Crossover Point”

  via The Simple Dollar (via LifeHacker)

  (tags: money lifehacks)

• The 50 best movie robots

  via B^2

  (tags: scifi robot entertainment film video)

• hugin Download

  via TUAW

  (tags: photography panorama software opensource Mac todo)

I decided to take Creighton’s advice and do something completely different.  I thought about my NaNoWriMo success(es) and what worked there and how much fun I had working on that project.  He was right that part of the reason for that success was that I wasn’t invested in that piece in the same way that I had (have) become in some of my other works.  (You may know what piece I’m talking about, in particular…)

So it’s not that I have given up.  I just got serious about putting real space between me and that … that … that werk.

Good whisk(e)y is aged 14 years, right?

Anyway, the wink-wink-nudge-nudge admission is that part of my time on this vacation was spent putting pen to paper in a bargain-basement sketchbook, kinking out a first draft of a short story using a lot of the same methods and techniques that I picked up in November.  I guess since I’m back from my vacation tomorrow, I can tell you all how it went.

(Or not?)

currently playing: Stephan Riedel “Gene Ratio”

Of all my personal goals that I’ve set for 2007, it’s the writing one that’s bugging me the most.

Write another draft of my novel.  I’m shooting for another draft of at least 80,000 words with at least 40,000 words worth of new material.  Complete overhaul.  Progress so far?  Well, I’ve got most of a revised outline as of 06-Jan…

Just can’t seem to pull this off.  A couple fits & starts.  Nothing takes.  Last year’s BWAHAHAI’MWRITINGALLNIGHTEVERYNIGHT spark seems to have gone out.  For the best?

It’s taken me since the 8th to mull it over but C. was perhaps on to something with his Maybe It’s Time To Move On remark.  You’re Clinging Too Much To This Project and Maybe Try Something Different And I Mean Really Different For You.  Lessons to be learned?  I’m certainly nowhere near the above-referenced goal.

So what to do?

C.’s suggestion was seemed to revolve around trying the hand at short stories (again?) or some such animal.  This is a strong possibility.  That said, the theme of the year is to meander into quantifiable territory whenever and wherever possible.

So (and C., I am looking at you, in particular) how shall I re-write this goal in light of this new proposed direction?