This is an attempt to embarrass myself into writing. It does not always work. Some weeks I end up being a wasted pile of excrement that drags down the society because I did not write. Other times, I prove myself worthy of another week of humiliation. Hopefully, these notes do the same for you, giving you a set goal to aim for, to get something done each week so you can brag about your accomplishment. If not, you can cry about your failures or at least tell about the rest of your life. I consider writing as any new writing, along with editing, including editing someone else's work. It is also articles, blogs, Writing assignments, poetry. I will include E-mails if they are long, and are about writing. As you have likely noticed, Society has fallen to new depths. I DID NOT WRITE!!!. Everybody has an excuse, just like everybody has a bottom. My bottom, I mean excuse, is that I had a woodworking club meeting on Thursday, and had to catch up on my missed story idea on Sunday, when I would normally have written. Not an acceptable excuse, but something I am standing by.
On the story idea front. I posted a story idea every day this past week. That is seven story ideas. Last week I had twenty story ideas in my stack. Today, I have twenty six story ideas. I am nearly a month ahead!!!!. Some of them are actually worth posting! I find some story ideas are easier to write than others. Really bad ideas, and really complex story ideas are best written when there is a lot of time to fight through it. Usually, when I finally do write them, they are not as hard as imagined, but I do prefer them to be written when I am in the mood and have the time. Other story ideas flow off my evil keyboard without any input from me. I just have to sit and read what is being written on screen. Many of my story ideas are becoming badly written short stories, with a beginning, middle and end, and enough detail to be readable as they are. A couple each month are even good. I have no about the actual process that story ideas pop into my mind. All sorts of things cause ideas to come to me. A commercial, even one I have seen a hundred times, might suddenly be the source of an idea. It could be a random thought, or a situation I happen to be in. Usually, they will come to mind and I have to write them down or they disappear. Over the past month, I likely lost about six or seven story ideas because I did not write them down in time. One was good but I lost it. I woke up in the middle of the night, then lost it again because I did not write it down, and depended on my memory. I hate when I lose a story thought. I consider every one as valuable. One never knows when that will be the great concept. I post my story ideas on line on some five bulletin boards in hopes that someone takes a few and develops them into something publishable. There is no way I can write 365 completed, publishable, stories, let alone the six to twelve Waxy stories I try to develop. These story ideas are too good to be wasted, so I try to post them to be used.
Babies are a coming. My nephew's wife had a baby a couple weeks ago. One of my friends at work had a relative that had twins. I am making baby rattles right now. I made three this weekend and only one is really useable at this second. the other two need more work to be finished, possibly by next weekend. The baby rattles are quick and easy to make in the way I am making them. I am making as many of them while I am in the mood since when I get out of making them, I likely won't make any more in the next couple years. My biggest problem in making baby rattles, is that I have wood that is either too big, or too small, for baby rattles. One could use the too big wood, but that is a waste as that wood is better used for larger projects.
Consider for a story, a wizard makes magical amulets for each royal baby when they are born. this gives them protection and seeds the power that makes the royalty royal. At first, it was easy to make as he had a large stockpile of materials to make the amulets. Now, though, he is running low on his preferred material. He is having to choose his materials from either the wrong stock or bad stock. The royal family are having a lot of babies and he sees he might not be able to keep up with demand. He also finds that his preferred suppliers are no longer in existence so he has some decisions to make. He can make more of the material out of stock that is way wrong, but he will be wasting the best of it for this type of work, when the work those items are designed for are so much better than these amulets. He is finding he has to decide which customer is better to satisfy, the royal family who he lives with, or his normal customer which basically supports him and his magic.
AS to the question of the day, I have to admit, NO I DID NOT WRITE.
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I wrote 1,239 words of usable stuff because I didn't get assigned any shots at work today, which is pretty damn good for me and better than I've done any other day this week.
Posts: 188 | Registered: May 2008
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Not yet, but I've been at work all day. I will be though, and I've written extensively over the past few days.
Posts: 2626 | Registered: Apr 2008
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Certainly, although it would be more accurately called rewriting. Applying some well-though out critique (from KayTi) on My Father's Sonand letting my Q3 first draft settle (and allowing the critiquers to have enough time to batter it about), and kicking around an idea for a historical fiction story/novel.
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I ended up getting a few hundred words in on my Lovecraftian short story. Almost finished with it now.
Posts: 2626 | Registered: Apr 2008
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Finally I wrote something last night. I've learned a lot about writing this week though, which is something.
Posts: 938 | Registered: May 2008
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Nary a word. Yup, I made it back from vacation...back Sunday night but it took me two more days to claw my way through the Internet back to here.
I've still got till Friday night before I have to go back to work, so I'm hopeful of squeezing in something...
(My vacation, you say? Fun, except for that last Sunday on the road. I'd post something about it, but you never know how scatalogical humor will go over...)
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I did! I wrote about 1k more words in my Teleport This story (suburban mom teleports the minivan) - but I'm still not satisfied with where I'm headed. I think I need to tough it out and just write til I get to the end, then FIX it, know what I mean? I think there will be much to fix, but there will be gems in there too. At least that's how things usually look to me in retrospect.
I am also just through another draft of my Heinlein centennial story - my Clone story that was an HM in WOTF last summer. I am considering a major rewrite of the ending (adding 2k words, probably, and some significant plot elements...) but I haven't decided. I need to get off the pot on that one. The rest of the manuscript is ready for final polish review, though, and that feels good. IB - shoot me a revision of My Father's Son, I'd love to see what you came up with. Maybe you can help me w/the clone ending, which I haven't been satisfied with since I wrote it as you've helpfully pointed out each time you've read it. (and I mean that in the nicest sense, LOL.)
ANYWAY - but yes, I wrote. I'm thrilled, two weeks in a row of writing. I need to keep at it. I've been off the wagon most of this year and bummed about it. Writing just *feels good* - even when it's hard. I need to keep doing it.
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Again, I dedicated my week to mostly web-based work, knowing I'd have an opportunity to do something writing related on my Saturday morning flight to California.
I packed several manuscripts into my carry-on bag, figuring "What the hell else is there to do on a four-and-a-half hour flight?" Except...my employer booked my flight on JetBlue, the airline known for having TVs on the backs of every seat. I ended up watching English football, rugby, and American lacrosse the entire time. I don't remember if my manuscripts ever made it out of the bag. I had even more fun during the last hour and a half of my flight home Sunday night; two Mets fans, a Red Sox fan, and I (an Orioles fan) were disturbing the other passengers by our somewhat boisterous reactions to watching our common enemy team, the Yankees, getting smacked.
That is what the hell there was to do on a four-and-a-half hour flight.
And, to paraphrase rstegman, NO I DID NOT WRITE. It's JetBlue's fault.
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Applying some well-though out critique (from KayTi) on My Father's Son and letting my Q3 first draft settle (and allowing the critiquers to have enough time to batter it about), and kicking around an idea for a historical fiction story/novel.
(and I mean that in the nicest sense, LOL.) 
