Yes we should
Writing and blogging seem to go hand in hand. It's been weeks since I wrote last on the current project, and I imagine it's been about that long since I updated this blog as well. I did a lot of planning recently, spent a lot of day-befores making I-swears to myself. That's about it. I did a lot of planning and very little implementation of what I came up with.
That changed this morning. Brushing my teeth, I tried to think of a less crazy way to say it than, "I heard the voice in my head again." But that's really the best I got. I knew what the next chapter was about, at least in the beginning so I felt confident about putting something down. Then, before I actually did, I began to hear narration in the back of my head on that very same subject. Almost like with an interactive file, I stopped and started the recording, editing where I saw fit. I rinsed. I spat. I looked myself in the eye while wiping my face and thought "well, I guess I should go write some of this down."
In the weeks since I last updated, several other ideas have occurred to me, too. Thoughts of grad school have reared up again and with those thoughts, doubts concerning my future and the unsettling uncertainty of not knowing where I'll be, and what my life will look like a year from now, much less a month from now. If I may wax political for just a moment, that seemed to be what the election was about: people with no certain future, and people who have no idea what that feels like trying to come together and reconcile their differences. Suddenly, the Never Ending Story 2 has much more terrifying premises. Sell your past for your future?
Speaking of being lost, a friend and I came up with a metaphor for outlining, which is something else I spent these weeks doing. An outline is like a GPS, I said, and he agreed with me, saying that it's a lot easier to get somewhere in a story if you know where you are. Moreover, he asserted, you really need to know where you are in the story. Speaking with him, he said he went back to stories he wrote years ago and thought that they were terrible. We discussed future plans and I asked him questions at points, addressing the perspectives of the him of now and the him of those years ago. His progress, at least, is something I can be proud of.
Another lapse I had was the realization that I had failed to acknowledge certain people in my author information page for the tentative February release. I told myself, years ago, that I wasn't going to do that, that I was going to try to keep everyone that helped me along the way firmly in mind. I haven't even gotten anywhere and already I'm fouling that up. Thankfully, the publisher is going to let me correct that mistake. They have no power to assist with all the others, unfortunately. Still, I guess we should fix them while we can.
It will be less than a month before you hear from me again.
That changed this morning. Brushing my teeth, I tried to think of a less crazy way to say it than, "I heard the voice in my head again." But that's really the best I got. I knew what the next chapter was about, at least in the beginning so I felt confident about putting something down. Then, before I actually did, I began to hear narration in the back of my head on that very same subject. Almost like with an interactive file, I stopped and started the recording, editing where I saw fit. I rinsed. I spat. I looked myself in the eye while wiping my face and thought "well, I guess I should go write some of this down."
In the weeks since I last updated, several other ideas have occurred to me, too. Thoughts of grad school have reared up again and with those thoughts, doubts concerning my future and the unsettling uncertainty of not knowing where I'll be, and what my life will look like a year from now, much less a month from now. If I may wax political for just a moment, that seemed to be what the election was about: people with no certain future, and people who have no idea what that feels like trying to come together and reconcile their differences. Suddenly, the Never Ending Story 2 has much more terrifying premises. Sell your past for your future?
Speaking of being lost, a friend and I came up with a metaphor for outlining, which is something else I spent these weeks doing. An outline is like a GPS, I said, and he agreed with me, saying that it's a lot easier to get somewhere in a story if you know where you are. Moreover, he asserted, you really need to know where you are in the story. Speaking with him, he said he went back to stories he wrote years ago and thought that they were terrible. We discussed future plans and I asked him questions at points, addressing the perspectives of the him of now and the him of those years ago. His progress, at least, is something I can be proud of.
Another lapse I had was the realization that I had failed to acknowledge certain people in my author information page for the tentative February release. I told myself, years ago, that I wasn't going to do that, that I was going to try to keep everyone that helped me along the way firmly in mind. I haven't even gotten anywhere and already I'm fouling that up. Thankfully, the publisher is going to let me correct that mistake. They have no power to assist with all the others, unfortunately. Still, I guess we should fix them while we can.
It will be less than a month before you hear from me again.
Comments
Post a Comment