this writing is a funny thing, really

 journal, shadow queen, snakeskin  4 Responses »
Sep 032006
 

The week six clarion story what desperately needs a title is finished. Well, except for the title. This is an immense relief, and I can only anticipate this relief extending into bliss when I find a title I like. (Or even a title at all.) So far I'm looking for quotes, because I think this story needs a lyrical title, but nothing appropriate is springing to mind. Quick, what's a good title for a story with faeries, skin-cookies, and bargains gone awry? I got nuffin.

In order to finish said story by the end of August, I had to put aside the novel for a week. Boy, was that a mistake. When I picked it up again on Friday, I'd forgotten everything. I'd left off in the middle of a scene that should be relatively easy to pick up again: my characters were arguing and there's nothing my characters like more than slinging around a bit of invective and accusations of snivelly natures. So it shoulda been easy to get going again, right? Um, yeah.

Fortunately, today being Sunday, I decided to start the day writing, and to stay tucked up in bed at the same time, and let's just say I've caught up a ways. Enough that I can take time off to do inconsequential things such as, you know, shower. Shop for cat food. Those sort of trivialities.

Unfortunately (for me) I'm going to have to hit 1500 words a day on the novel to get it finished this month as planned. Provided the novel comes in at or under 100,000 words; if it goes over, there's no way I'm finishing this month. 1500 words a day is a little difficult for me, with this novel, so forgive me if things go a bit silent at times.

hanging around, nothing to do but frown

 journal, pre-crash, snakeskin  2 Responses »
Aug 192006
 

For some reason this afternoon I can't focus. And I don't mean focus in the sense of concentration, I mean my eyes literally keep fading out of focus. It's ace. Not. I think it has something to do with trying to merge my current installs of wordpress (I have three; this blog, the clarion blog, and a test blog) into one multi-blog install. But lo! apparently even the simple instructions are not simple enough for me. So I'll try again later, when I have more time. And more in the way of eyesight.

I didn't get a story ready for Charlie's slushbomb. I had sorta kinda planned to sub the current demon short story in progress, but after working on it all day I still wasn't finished. Not even finished enough that there's only the final polish left.

There's a few structural issues still to clean up, some transitions and such, and I still have to figure out how to make sure the reader follows the timeline. Advice anyone? The second scene is 12 months earlier than the first, and then scenes 3 and following are all 7 years after the second scene.

I originally wrote it with headings — Second Samhain, First Samhain, Seventh Samhain — but that relies on the reader knowing that Samhain is an actual day (some of the crit class didn't, so lesson one: never assume), and it's just so awkward.

Tomorrow morning I wade back in, and I am hopeful that I will wibble finish.

Also, one of my Clarion flatmates entertained us all throughout the six weeks with his musical stylings. (Not to mention insisting on a group rendition of Apple Sauce each week. And a rather memorable group rendition of A-Ha's Take On Me which may have broken a vocal chord or two.) And now, lucky people that you are, his band People People are now on MySpace, complete with songs to download for free so you all can have a listen, too. Sadly, there's no Apple Sauce; but after all, what happens at Clarion, stays at Clarion. Or something like that.

like wrestling a tar-baby

 journal, shadow queen, snakeskin  4 Responses »
Aug 162006
 

Because I can sense that darn black dog nosing her way back ever closer lately, I went and bought some St John's Wort tablets this morning. I've heard they help. We'll see. I also bought some ginseng tablets, because I know energy levels help.

Also, in an attempt to actually achieve some things today, I haven't started on the novel yet.1 Instead, I've started on little projects which I can complete in a day and cross off the list. One of these was a job application2. Another was that damned week six clarion story which still has no title. (I must admit I haven't exactly been trying hard to find a new title. First things first.)

The job application took a little over an hour. The short story…? Well, I've been working on it since midday, and I've only just hit the halfway point. I swear, I have broken this beyond all repair.

Maura recently summarised the whole revision process very accurately (for me, anyway):

Revising a story is always an interesting process. Usually it begins with great hopes, stalls in despair, and resolves through grim-faced determination.

Me, I'm stuck in the grim-faced determination phase. I'm currently stitching this poor, gutted story back together, convinced that even Frankenstein will look more attractive and animated.

Now, I've revised enough short stories that I know not to trust myself on this. Still. Right this very second? Hate this story.

But the cat is trying to sit on my shoulders, which means he figures it to be dinner time, and I figure I won't get anything more done till he's eaten.

  1. This will quite possibly make me feel frantic and behind the curve later on tonight; but I'm hoping that I'll be rational enough to ignore that. And that finishing a few things will counterbalance it. [↩]
  2. There's a lab position available where I work, which would certainly pay better than my admin position and yet is still part-time; so I figure why not apply? [↩]
 Posted by at 4:25 pm

somewhere near, one senses fear

 journal, snakeskin  2 Responses »
Jul 032006
 

New favourite song of the day: Casanova in Hell, performed live by Pet Shop Boys & Rufus Wainwright.

Also? Writing to a convoluted, back and forth, choppy timeline with an amnesiac character? Is hard. From now on, I shall work only on linear stories. Do you hear me, backbrain? Linear timelines only. (Why, yes, I am working on my week six Clarion story, otherwise known as The Shedding Story What Desperately Needs A Title. Why do you ask?)

And lastly, for your daily artistic pleasure, check out the Rijksmuseum widget (for both Mac and PC operating systems). (link via lifehacker.)

 Posted by at 6:39 pm  Tagged with:

the point where you must choose between what you've lost and what you stand to lose

 journal, pre-crash, shadow queen, snakeskin  4 Responses »
Jun 122006
 

The thing with public holidays is that the whole world is home on a Monday1. This is a problem because I am possessive and easily thrown off-course, and Monday is my Sunday, and I've grown rather used to having a Sunday wherein everyone else is working and I get the world to myself. Not to mention the washing machine.

I cannot write a word I like lately. I cannot even write a word I feel ambivalent about. But that's okay. No, really, it is. I'd tell myself that I'll fix them in a later draft but, seeing as one of my current projects is mucking about in the guts of one of my Clarion stories and I'm convinced that I've broken it beyond repair, it's probably not such helpful advice today. Later, when I've put the broken-beyond-repair story back together and not looked at it for a while and discovered, when I do come back to it, that it's not broken beyond all repair after all, then will be better. In the meantime, I'm employing my superhuman powers of disinterest to ignore all of those weaselly words..

In novel news, my protag who started doing stuff (even if it was only cooking)? Yeah, she stopped. Yay. I'm punishing her by ignoring her. I've also threatened to take away her pet if she doesn't behave.

It is entirely possible that my jagged and scattered mood is the direct result of cannonballing the first three seasons of Scrubs over the past couple of days. Perhaps not my best move. I really liked the first season, but as it went on the lead character got more cocky and I liked that less. On the upside, though, the music selection truly is excellent. And that moment when the cast sang Waiting for my Real Life to Begin? Rawks.

  1. For the non-Aussies, today is the Queen's Birthday public holiday. I understand that the UK celebrate the Queen's Birthday long weekend on a different date. I don't know why, and I don't care. Frankly, I'm all for a republic, but only so long as we don't lose the Queen's Birthday long weekend. And no, I don't mean renaming it Independence Day or President's Birthday, or whatever. We can have another public holiday for those. [↩]