100 Words a Day or Go!

When in doubt the safest bet is lowering the bar although this can backfire if limbo is your game. I shouldn't have to tell you to do the opposite. Not you, because you know better than I. But just in case, I'll put it out there and let you decide what to do with it. After all choices are for the choosing and choosing not to decide is a choice of its own. Whatever it is, it's yours to make and yours to live with.

My current attempt at cobbling prose together and hammering it into paragraphs with or without some continuity is being assembled under the mantle: 100 Words a Day or Go! An obvious mistake on my part (should be 1000 tbh) but I liked it so much we're keeping it. It's only a working title anyway, I'm not married to it.

What's my idea? Well, probably not a good one... I read way too much Dostoevsky or some would say not enough. Fyodor, constructs his worlds slowly and carefully with people that all of us know on some level. If we don't know them when the book starts, by the end we do, which makes the reading all that more enjoyable for me. I'm spending more time on the construction part this time, using an outline as the underlying foundation for my universe.

My wife, who seems to take this stuff harder than I do, got really upset with me when I told her I was yanking the plug on everything and starting from scratch... again. What's a wannabe writer to do though? I've never been a fan of squeezing blood from a stone that's for sure. Hard work is one thing. I'll roll my sleeves up and get it done but I'm big into outcomes. Sure things are the ticket.

So how do you get over that feeling of trying to make an idea that seemed like such a sure thing, work? Is it best to go back to the drawing board or should one attempt the mental hurdles hoping that there's an actual finish line in site at the end of the excruciating, mind numbing, tedious stabs at fashioning words into entertaining, thought provoking, prose?

I hope you're not looking at me to answer that. How about a quote from Richard Bach though: A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit.

That is something I can buy into. Starting at 1000 words a day will be the first step for me.

*Deep Sigh*

I got nothing. Not in the "I'm a dried up former fountain of creativity" kind-of-way but in the "It's really hard to write something that I would want to read" kind-of-way, which is probably the most important thing.

Established writers say "Finish the darn thing and get better at finishing!" but how do you finish something that you can't even get excited about working on? I'm not on a self-pity trip, no not that at all. What I'm on about is the desire to create something that I can set next to the work of my literary heroes and not feel ashamed of.

Lofty goals? You bet, but we all have our own definitions of success and I won't be redefining mine anytime soon. Back to work.

Stay tuned.

Winston Churchill Said:

"You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else."

Kudos to McCain for not dragging it out and giving an eloquent concession speech. Congrats to President Obama. I hope that he will take the lead in mending the partisan rifts that plague our nation.

It would be nice to see the same level of voter involvement in the future because this thing only works when your voice is a part of it.

Election Day

I wanted to say something meaningful like: "Tomorrow, our long national nightmare comes to an end." but it's probably been done by now. Let's keep that in mind. Tomorrow, after two years of downright, abject, stupidity this thing will finally start winding down. FINALLY!

You know what I'm tired of hearing? Campaign ads. It's the rampant, unrepentant, fear mongering and I won't miss it. Look, I've been around. I've met people in many countries and states, I went to school on both coasts, did some time in the Navy, and my job today still involves a healthy amount of travel so I rub elbows with folks from all over regularly.

There was a time back when I was a young man I'd be indignant that someone could have a different political view than mine. Most conversations about the subject would break down into hostile shouting matches without any sort of resolution, so I resolved to never talk politics with those that were close to me.

I'd like to say that lasted, but it didn't. Instead I became older and encrusted with a thick layer of cynicism at the whole process, and through my travels and exposure to different people I've come to find and understand that people have different reasons and circumstances for believing what they do.

That's fine by me. I'll even go one better and say that most people don't even know what they believe because their beliefs are never tested. Hey, you can say what you want about this, that or the other but the only thing that matters and the only thing that people see is how you ACT. How you act is what you believe, not some platitude or soundbite that you heard some guy drop on the TV. You can echo that all day but at some point you're going to have to get off your butt and stand behind it. Will you?

Is it hard to imagine that someone may have the best interests of the country in mind, even though their beliefs don't fall into step with yours? Think about what it means to accuse someone of being "Unpatriotic" because their ideas are not the same as yours and then think about how closed minded and ignorant it is to rebut someone's argument by calling them a name or (my favorite internet trick) attacking their character because you can't defend your point of view.

People, we come in all shapes, sizes, colors and genders and we all (generally) have one thing in common: We want what's best for ourselves and our country. There is more than one way to go about doing that and sometimes it may not necessarily be the way that you believe in, but you can not do anything at all if you don't participate in the process.

I would never attempt to sway an opinion one way or another, unless challenged to, I'm always up for that. However, there is one thing that I will not bend on, no matter what and that is voting. If you haven't already, you must vote tomorrow. Give voice to those opinions of yours that you think can help shape this nation of ours into the place that you want it to be. You will have my respect no matter what your beliefs.

Vote people!