Moving things, about
It feels like it would be fine for me to say I took yesterday off on account of it being my birthday, however that'd be partially untrue. After all, I worked, editing the weekend's chapters and even writing a story on Bleacher Report, something I haven't done since January. I spent the rest of the day helping a writer friend move, which is to say I spent the rest of the day talking about writing while eating, driving, and moving two pieces of furniture over the course of five hours. A productive pair were we.
It isn't a natural assumption that because the editing went smoothly, so did the writing, but in this case its true. Laying awake last night I came to think that I might've written something out of order, though, or rather that the book would be better served if a few of the chapters were organized differently. I can't really be sure, nor do I have the sort of test readers who would be down for "okay now I want you to read the whole thing again with the chapters in a different order." It wouldn't even be fair to say that I have test readers. I guess I'll wing it like normal and hope to get some air under me. I'm about at the halfway point, and have come to realize that the whole process is a bit like air travel. A lot of work goes into the altitude adjustment, the rising action and the falling action eating up a lot of literary real estate. It isn't like getting 3/4 through the book and deciding that's the time to start easing into the climax. At least, I've found that to be too late if I want to avoid a bumpy landing.
The story on BR came to me while watching the game I wrote about. I haven't really been excited enough about sports to turn the television on in a long time, and even in this case I was over at a friend's. The television was so huge it was almost a crime not to stare at it. I had been afraid that I no longer found discussing sports interesting, when it turns out that I have no problem writing about it: it's the sitting down and watching sports that I've grown more tired of. I think I'm going to try to work on a short story to put up on fictionaut, too. No reason not to, I guess.
In talking with a co-worker, I discovered that the first bit of literature where the characters change was Don Quixote whose full title is The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, translated from the Spanish. That was in 1605, and was strange at the time, how the character was mutable and learned things. Now, in traditions lasted at least two hundred years, people cry foul if a character isn't dynamic. We use bad-sounding words like flat and stilted, when really, it's just a trend. However it's doubtful it will ever reverse itself, given that initially stories were told to change and affect the listener for a utilitarian purpose (don't leave the cave at night because this is what happened to those other children). However I do wonder what the next trend might be...
I believe this week I will begin submitting to agencies. I have three prospects waiting to be submitted to in my inbox, and during slow periods I guess I'll be looking for more. None of the reviews have yet to come in, and it was another writer who informed me that such things can take weeks, if not months. So we move onward and upward, hunting the nefarious Rejection with a confident stride and trusty spear.
It isn't a natural assumption that because the editing went smoothly, so did the writing, but in this case its true. Laying awake last night I came to think that I might've written something out of order, though, or rather that the book would be better served if a few of the chapters were organized differently. I can't really be sure, nor do I have the sort of test readers who would be down for "okay now I want you to read the whole thing again with the chapters in a different order." It wouldn't even be fair to say that I have test readers. I guess I'll wing it like normal and hope to get some air under me. I'm about at the halfway point, and have come to realize that the whole process is a bit like air travel. A lot of work goes into the altitude adjustment, the rising action and the falling action eating up a lot of literary real estate. It isn't like getting 3/4 through the book and deciding that's the time to start easing into the climax. At least, I've found that to be too late if I want to avoid a bumpy landing.
The story on BR came to me while watching the game I wrote about. I haven't really been excited enough about sports to turn the television on in a long time, and even in this case I was over at a friend's. The television was so huge it was almost a crime not to stare at it. I had been afraid that I no longer found discussing sports interesting, when it turns out that I have no problem writing about it: it's the sitting down and watching sports that I've grown more tired of. I think I'm going to try to work on a short story to put up on fictionaut, too. No reason not to, I guess.
In talking with a co-worker, I discovered that the first bit of literature where the characters change was Don Quixote whose full title is The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, translated from the Spanish. That was in 1605, and was strange at the time, how the character was mutable and learned things. Now, in traditions lasted at least two hundred years, people cry foul if a character isn't dynamic. We use bad-sounding words like flat and stilted, when really, it's just a trend. However it's doubtful it will ever reverse itself, given that initially stories were told to change and affect the listener for a utilitarian purpose (don't leave the cave at night because this is what happened to those other children). However I do wonder what the next trend might be...
I believe this week I will begin submitting to agencies. I have three prospects waiting to be submitted to in my inbox, and during slow periods I guess I'll be looking for more. None of the reviews have yet to come in, and it was another writer who informed me that such things can take weeks, if not months. So we move onward and upward, hunting the nefarious Rejection with a confident stride and trusty spear.
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