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!

Recommendation (Poem)

When our hearts fall out of concordance with convention, we need reminding:

It’s perverse to think an individual thought
We should all share one thought
The system which was written by…
(They changed it from written to handed down, when it suited them)
The words appeared, miraculously
Blank sheets of paper now covered in script
Intimate details on how humans should interact
Things are done a certain way
(They tell you at birth)
You should know on page X
That you should feel THIS about THAT
And if you don’t feel THIS about THAT
Well, how could you not feel THIS about THAT?
Only a monster would not feel THIS about THAT!
So you are a monster as the book judges you
From one monster to another
I’d tell never tell you how to feel
I’d only ask that
You never stopped

On Driving (Poem)

Driving punishes the individual
Driving rewards the conformist
Creative drivers attempt to redefine boundaries
And are frowned upon for not staying in their lane

Impulsive drivers leave a trail of brake lights
In their erratic wakes, a ripple spreads through traffic
Cell phones ring and they must be answered
Right this very moment, because they must!

Drivers slow to pay their respects to fallen comrades
Then speed off when the road opens up again, and forget:
It’s life or death when you hop into a car
Skill is only part of the equation for survival

Yet those that fear flying would just as easily drive inebriated
Is it willful ignorance of statistics?
Or does the wheel in our hands provide the illusion
Of control that we don’t have?

Control that we crave
When we yield the right of way, unnecessarily
When we stop at an unmarked crosswalk
And allow a single pedestrian to disrupt the flow

Deadlines

I read somewhere that it's always a good idea to write under a deadline because it forces you to create and develop the habits that lead to disciplined writing. This sounds great in theory, but if you're a thirty somethingish person living in a two income home and not relying on the written word to pay your bills, is there really such a thing as a deadline? I'm not going to starve if I miss it.

I can't tell my self something to be true in the hopes that I'll believe it. Besides, I have no illusions about my writing paying the bills one day. Getting published is the only thing on the agenda for now and if that means getting a crisp Jackson to stick in my wallet or just seeing my name in print then I'm all for it. Say what you will about Andrew Jackson, he set the precedent for many things to come in the Executive Branch and his whole windmill tilting attempt at destroying the Federal Bank is a classic example of "Unintended Consequences." But I digress...

I've given myself two deadlines, one which ends October 31st and another for November 30th... not including NaNoWriMo which I'm strongly leaning towards. If I'm getting involved in NaNo then technically both of the deadlines are now moved up to the end of October so I can go into November with a clear plate.

It's not as dire as it may sound dear reader, so please step back from the ledge. I have one story complete that needs a big fat edit in the middle and she's ready to submit, and I started another this weekend, reached 1500 words and the climax. I will most likely finish it in the next couple of days and then revise the heck out of it.

Meanwhile my quarter finished novel glowers at me... It's a delicate line because most writers suggest concentrating on the novel until it's done and the common belief is that short stories and novels are different animals altogether. Writing one doesn't make you any better at writing the other. As a reader, I expect different things from both formats.

What do you do when the story's there though? Do you just ignore it and plow on with the other works or take a breather and hammer the short out then get back to the grindstone? I'm trying to do what feels right and if that means spreading myself so thin that I'm transparent than I'm willing to give it a shot.

Maybe by taking on multiple projects of different scope I'll find discipline. Really though, the only thing that matters for me, right now, is finishing the things that I start which I think in the end will make me a better writer.