Melancholy Mondays

No time for tomfoolery

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 04:34:43 GMT

I've decided to stop feeling sorry for myself, to stop regretting going to college. I'm manning up with my bad self. I'm taking back the joy I used to have in writing. I'm going back to where I told a story because I had a story to tell. I wanted to hear it, so I wrote it. The simple of joy of creating, without the internal pressure of who's going to read it, of worrying over getting published, not worrying whether I suck or not.

I've decided the best way to do this is just to write. Get all the awkwardness over and done with so I can start writing again. I seriously, seriously want to get paid for writing fabulous books, but before I can do that, I have to actually write something fabulous. And before I can write fabulously, I have to give myself permission to write really, really badly. Or, in Annie Lamott's word, write a shitty first draft:

For me and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts. (from Bird by Bird)

I have a hard time doing anything without deadlines. Not that I meet deadlines, but having them forces me to get something, anything done. And under pressure, sometimes I produce diamonds. Tiny, infinitesimal diamonds, but still diamonds. I am going to start off small, and build.

My goal for this week is going to be 7k. That's not a lot. I mean, during NaNoWriMo, I'd write more than that in five days. But since this isn't NaNoWriMo and I can't write that intensely all the time (as well as the fact that I haven't been writing for awhile and I need to get back into the swing of things), I think seven k is a good place to start. If it's too easy, I can make next week's goal higher. If it's too hard, well, I'll keep it at 7k. We'll see how much I can push myself.

I'm off to work on an outline. Fun fun fun.

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Put me out of my misery

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:55:38 GMT

I'm in a really bad writing place... And I don't know how to get out of it. I need to, and fast. I have two stories left for my final workshop (my first one completely bombed), and I have to get something written like, now, if I want to graduate with honors.

Somebody shoot me in the head. One shot to the brain. Bullet in the brain pan. That's all I'm asking.

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Writer's block

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:00:08 GMT

For last hour and a half I've been trying to work on my HanWriMo story. This is the first HanWriMo I've actually participated in--or rather, will have participated in, once I post something officially on TTR. I had a story all outlined. It's the last in a trilogy I started years ago. I've had it outlined for ages, I just never wrote it. I figured I could milk it for at least 15K, so it was ideal for this year's HanWriMo. Apparently not, in the past hour and a half, I've written approximately 600 words. And I'm not proud of any of them. I reread the first chapter and went, uuugggh. No wonder no one reviews my stories. They're pretty awful. Well-constructed gramatically speaking, but the content is so innane. I'm sick of it.

My count is 1057. Only 14K to go. Maybe I'll slog through just because. I hate doing that, though. As much as I value raw material, it's not worth much unless it's shaped into a cohesive story. I'll probably post my word count here, and see if I can't finish the story before the deadline. That's the only way I'll post it to TTR. Lame, I know, but whoever said I was cool? :D

I feel so neurotic right now.

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Writing blog. Or something.

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 01:53:50 GMT

I was thinking of making this my writing blog. I know I have a poetry blog, but I don't have a place to talk about writing, to bitch about my lack of skill and writer's block, and what not. Story updates, eventually, if I can find someone who cares.

I don't know, I feel so emo when I post my poetry online. And I'm concerned about copyright issues, or problems if by some miracle I get published. I don't know.

Thoughts?

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