Water water everywhere
Just over a week in the new place. I missed my first great opportunity to write, but I only feel a little bad about that. In the time since bringing in the last box, a few different ideas have bubbled up out of my nighttime thoughts, one of them so strong it formed into a kind of sense during the next waking day. I feel good. I will put words on the page again.
It's also June, which is obvious, but was not so apparent to me as when I went over my mental list of things I wanted to accomplish over the next few seasons. Primarily, I'm getting back up onto the submission horse. The house that accepts submissions without an agent will be opening its doors again this winter, and I would like to have another offering. The plan was to write all year on the latest novel. And now it's June.
So, a step back to organize, in a real space others who might keep me accountable could see.
First, the novel. I have things outlined up to a certain point, but I need to go back and familiarize myself, to wade into all of that tone and theme. It's also a modern setting, so all the research I did, and everything I've learned since will be of import. Deadline is Christmas.
Another would be a short story, the thing that came up out of a dream, and stuck. It connects with another novel I wrote, and could serve to wet the appetite, or wet the feet, of someone thinking of diving into that world and story. I think it has good placement; I have good feelings about that, too.
A while back, years, I tried and failed at writing a stage play. In the time since, I've seen more, and read more, and understand more. And in the period when I wasn't devoting so much focus to one specific project, all sorts of things occurred to me. Several of them were scenes for the play. In addition, I got a chance to talk to some professionals in the field, and I feel ready to at least attempt the first couple scenes of the first act.
In that same vein of just sitting back and letting my wheels turn, I also made some headway on a contemporary novel which I have been collecting ideas for, for even longer. Back when I had the support of mentors and advisers and a college campus, I was at a workshop where I received good advice before I knew what good advice sounded like. I'm not sure if I'll ever go back to school, but I've always fancied the Twain quote "I've never let schooling get in the way of my education," and so this thing will be written, whether or not I'm in a program designed to get it published.
Which is a lot. After all, I still need to make more submissions and find an agent and network and all of that. The metaphor I will be going with is breaking the surface of the water to find no land in sight. I was drowning, and now I am not drowning. But there is still so much more work to do. I cannot even entertain the thought of rescue. Which is a lot. And I'm sure there will be cramps, and hunger pangs, and so, so many hallucinations. I may even pick the wrong direction, or end up spinning in circles, tossed by powers out of my control.
But if I just keep swimming, I'll make it eventually.
It's also June, which is obvious, but was not so apparent to me as when I went over my mental list of things I wanted to accomplish over the next few seasons. Primarily, I'm getting back up onto the submission horse. The house that accepts submissions without an agent will be opening its doors again this winter, and I would like to have another offering. The plan was to write all year on the latest novel. And now it's June.
So, a step back to organize, in a real space others who might keep me accountable could see.
First, the novel. I have things outlined up to a certain point, but I need to go back and familiarize myself, to wade into all of that tone and theme. It's also a modern setting, so all the research I did, and everything I've learned since will be of import. Deadline is Christmas.
Another would be a short story, the thing that came up out of a dream, and stuck. It connects with another novel I wrote, and could serve to wet the appetite, or wet the feet, of someone thinking of diving into that world and story. I think it has good placement; I have good feelings about that, too.
A while back, years, I tried and failed at writing a stage play. In the time since, I've seen more, and read more, and understand more. And in the period when I wasn't devoting so much focus to one specific project, all sorts of things occurred to me. Several of them were scenes for the play. In addition, I got a chance to talk to some professionals in the field, and I feel ready to at least attempt the first couple scenes of the first act.
In that same vein of just sitting back and letting my wheels turn, I also made some headway on a contemporary novel which I have been collecting ideas for, for even longer. Back when I had the support of mentors and advisers and a college campus, I was at a workshop where I received good advice before I knew what good advice sounded like. I'm not sure if I'll ever go back to school, but I've always fancied the Twain quote "I've never let schooling get in the way of my education," and so this thing will be written, whether or not I'm in a program designed to get it published.
Which is a lot. After all, I still need to make more submissions and find an agent and network and all of that. The metaphor I will be going with is breaking the surface of the water to find no land in sight. I was drowning, and now I am not drowning. But there is still so much more work to do. I cannot even entertain the thought of rescue. Which is a lot. And I'm sure there will be cramps, and hunger pangs, and so, so many hallucinations. I may even pick the wrong direction, or end up spinning in circles, tossed by powers out of my control.
But if I just keep swimming, I'll make it eventually.
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