Tag: #Writers

  • I Missed a Day of Writing

    So… When I started working on this blog back in July, I decided that I was going to do things differently. in the past, I wrote something when the mood hit me, which meant that this blog was rather infrequent, lots of ebbs and flows of inspiration. The choice I made in July was to write at least one blog a day during the week, with the exception of holidays. I was going to treat it more like a job, a job that I enjoyed, but it was a job that I had to accomplish each day of the week. Large or small, I had to write a blog.

    Yesterday, I missed it.

    There was a window for me to get it accomplished, but I kept letting myself get pulled sideways. We are trying to get Covid tested, and then there was making the Thanksgiving shopping list, and it was a nice day out, so I wanted to make sure the kid got lots of park time, and then I got sucked down a Twitter-hole of checking on Trump’s efforts in Michagain.

    In that same vein of thought, It has been close to a month since I have worked on any of my fiction. At first I chalked it up to the coming election, as that was and still is dominating a great deal of my mental space. But it has been three weeks, and I think it is time to admit that I have fallen off the writing wagon.

    It is a matter of self discipline. I am lacking it, and also staying focused. This isn’t meant as a pity party, but more a matter of recalibration. We are still a long way from normal, or even a normal schedule, but I have to find a way to work within this situation.

  • Rewriting is a Skill

    I fully believe that rewriting is a skill. A skill that I do not possess.

    I am trying to make a better effort this time around at rewriting. Really putting my mind to it. Making notes on the first draft, formulating an outline, crafting the words to build the story. And I just about hate all of it.

    As I get older, I begin to see patterns in my life. One pattern I see is my attraction to acts of immediacy in the arts. I love Jack Kerouac, Jackson Pollock, and Jazz. The theatre I have been the most successful at has been puppetry, which has been like pick up the puppet and go perform.

    It has been an artistic life and philosophy of, “First thought, best thought.”

    Yet, when it comes to my writing, my first thought is not the best thought. I have to work at a best thought.

    I remember a theatre professor back in college who told us that we had to learn to appreciate all the steps in the process of being an actor. Not love all the steps, just appreciate. You can’t be an actor if you hate auditioning, as the hatred of that step will come through when you try to get a job. But if you respect that step, then you will hone the needed skills that will help you audition, which helps you get to the next step.

    That’s where I feel like I am coming to. I don’t like rewriting, but I have first drafts that need reworking, and this is the next step in the process.

  • Ghost of Kilgore Trout

    If you know who Kilgore Trout is, then you are someone who has read Vonnegut. If you have read Vonnegut, then you most likely love him, because he’s the type of writer you either love or hate; not many in the middle.

    I always felt that Kilgore was created as a character to reflect how Vonnegut felt about himself as a writer, and the fear most writers have. Thus by creating this embodiment, the fear becomes knowable, and therefore manageable.

    If you don’t remember, the Kilgore Trout character was a great writer who could only get published in the worst magazines published. This lack of publication status causes Trout to doubt his abilities as a writer, and lose his grip on reality.

    I think Vonnegut touches on a very interesting modern anxiety; achieving your dream, but you still don’t get the validation you seek.

    I think about Kilgore Trout often.

  • Writing That Nevers Sees the Light of Day

    Everyone is an artist, or at least has the potential to be an artist. I think the unifying idea is creation to express emotion. In that sense, just about anything can be an artist endeavor. Thus, the world of self-expression.

    Sharing art with others for monetary compensation is a whole other ball game. Making art that sells is a tough trick, and not everything created is meant to be consumed.

    If we are to go down a cliché route, such as dance as if no one is watching; write as if no one will read it, right? What was it that Stephen King said, write the books you want to read.

    I know that I have stated that one of my goals is to be a paid write that can earn enough to replace this computer that I am writing on. The other goal is to just complete a project. I started something, followed it through, and finished it. With the world the way it is, I think I just need a personal win.

    That leads me to believe that what I complete will be something that is awful, and will never see the light of day. And that’s okay. I remember that John Lennon said you have to write a lot of bad songs before you can start writing some good songs.

    I also remember what I tell my kid everyday, you got to practice if you want to get good at something. I might get lucky, but I might also just might be getting my practice in.

  • Time to Write? What Was I Thinking?

    Oh, silly me. I thought that once school started, even with doing remote classes from home, that I would be able to get things accomplished. Yesterday just kicked my ass, and today was no better. And we haven’t even started the full day schedule yet.

    What I expected was that I would be able to get two hours to write, but it is looking more and more that I’m only going to get a hour during the day. This means that I will need to make some tough choices.

    I can’t do it all, but I have to find a way to do most of it.

    Now, I need to start prepping dinner…