Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Quick progress update.
Got a late start tonight. I struggled and only pulled out 245 words. I am not going for number of words, though, just consistent output.
Subway slight of hand
Subway has a new commercial out and the jingle is catchy in that I want to scrape out my eyeballs kind of way.
All of the people are singing in rhyme about the new six-inch sandwiches that cost just $2.99. I would think that was a great deal if I wasn't aware that the sandwiches just recently cost only $2.49.
All of the people are singing in rhyme about the new six-inch sandwiches that cost just $2.99. I would think that was a great deal if I wasn't aware that the sandwiches just recently cost only $2.49.
Progress
Between a few minutes last night and a few more minutes this morning I banged out another 400 words on the monster story. Got a nice bit of back story written and moved the plot along some. Again, it's mostly dialogue.
My concern at this point is that the story is getting long. We are at 3,700-plus words right now. It's becoming a hefty short story and we are at the middle according to the outline in my head.
I wasn't expecting this to get that long, but I figure it's OK. I can't worry about that now and have to just keep writing. I have no doubt that I'll be able to tighten things up in the editing. And, yes, I remember saying I was a lean writer. I just know there are whole sections here that could come out. I'll just save them for something later. I m enjoying this character and this story. It's fun to write and I may just write something else with the same guy at the center. I can use those things that don't make it in this story in one of those in the future.
My concern at this point is that the story is getting long. We are at 3,700-plus words right now. It's becoming a hefty short story and we are at the middle according to the outline in my head.
I wasn't expecting this to get that long, but I figure it's OK. I can't worry about that now and have to just keep writing. I have no doubt that I'll be able to tighten things up in the editing. And, yes, I remember saying I was a lean writer. I just know there are whole sections here that could come out. I'll just save them for something later. I m enjoying this character and this story. It's fun to write and I may just write something else with the same guy at the center. I can use those things that don't make it in this story in one of those in the future.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Home again
We are back from a weekend trip to Kansas City. I needed to visit my grandmother who is 92 and in a nursing home now. And Gina has told me repeatedly that she didn't want the first time she went to Kansas City to be for a funeral. I was able to get Monday and Tuesday off from work so we took advantage of Gina's summer and headed north.
It was great seeing family and wonderful to see my grandmother again. I got to show Gina all of the places I remember as kid. We ate burgers at my family's favorite burger place and went for barbecue. We had intended to hit the two big KC barbecue spots, Gates and Arthur Bryant's, but were only able to make it to Gates. That's OK though. At Gates I ate what could possibly be the best thing I have ever put in my mouth -- a burnt ends on bun sandwich. My goodness. Gina and I were both swooning over how good this was. Yes, swooning.
Tried to catch a Royals game. Went to the ballpark, paid for parking, entry, souvenirs, and food. Just never saw a game because a constant drizzle canceled the game.
It was a great time. We ate too much but enjoyed ourselves but it's good to be back home
I have a bit of writing to catch up on and am going to the first meeting of a writers group Thursday night. Excited but nervous. It's a group that came together through Craigslist so not sure what to expect. I'll report back how it goes.
It was great seeing family and wonderful to see my grandmother again. I got to show Gina all of the places I remember as kid. We ate burgers at my family's favorite burger place and went for barbecue. We had intended to hit the two big KC barbecue spots, Gates and Arthur Bryant's, but were only able to make it to Gates. That's OK though. At Gates I ate what could possibly be the best thing I have ever put in my mouth -- a burnt ends on bun sandwich. My goodness. Gina and I were both swooning over how good this was. Yes, swooning.
Tried to catch a Royals game. Went to the ballpark, paid for parking, entry, souvenirs, and food. Just never saw a game because a constant drizzle canceled the game.
It was a great time. We ate too much but enjoyed ourselves but it's good to be back home
I have a bit of writing to catch up on and am going to the first meeting of a writers group Thursday night. Excited but nervous. It's a group that came together through Craigslist so not sure what to expect. I'll report back how it goes.
Friday, July 17, 2009
The rise of the robots
While I am at work I usually have a muted TV playing above my desk. It's always on one of the cable news channels unless there is a daytime baseball game on.
This morning I have it on MSNBC and am glancing at it every few minutes. Earlier they debated something called The Lucifer Effect with and author of a book with that title. Just a moment ago I saw this headline: "Robots: Good or Evil."
I had to see what that was and figure out if they really were talking about what it appeared they were talking about. Unmute.
They weren't talking about the C3PO style robot that walks and talks. They were talking about the kind of robots that we use to make cars. And the unmanned drones that fly over enemy territory that take surveillance photos. All things that don't have much if any artificial intelligence. They rely on programming by a human to function at all and are made to do a certain task.
That didn't stop one of the co-hosts of the show, Stephen A. Smith, from declaring that he was terrified of robots. He had seen I, Robot with Will Smith. He knew about Transformers. Even thought they weren't talking about those kinds of robots at all. There is nothing like not listening to a conversation you are an integral part of. Make sure you don't learn anything there, Stephen.
I never liked that guy when he was on ESPN. He was always loud for the sake of being loud. I really don't like him in MSNBC.
This morning I have it on MSNBC and am glancing at it every few minutes. Earlier they debated something called The Lucifer Effect with and author of a book with that title. Just a moment ago I saw this headline: "Robots: Good or Evil."
I had to see what that was and figure out if they really were talking about what it appeared they were talking about. Unmute.
They weren't talking about the C3PO style robot that walks and talks. They were talking about the kind of robots that we use to make cars. And the unmanned drones that fly over enemy territory that take surveillance photos. All things that don't have much if any artificial intelligence. They rely on programming by a human to function at all and are made to do a certain task.
That didn't stop one of the co-hosts of the show, Stephen A. Smith, from declaring that he was terrified of robots. He had seen I, Robot with Will Smith. He knew about Transformers. Even thought they weren't talking about those kinds of robots at all. There is nothing like not listening to a conversation you are an integral part of. Make sure you don't learn anything there, Stephen.
I never liked that guy when he was on ESPN. He was always loud for the sake of being loud. I really don't like him in MSNBC.
Writing, are you lean or fat?
Writing last night got me thinking about a discussion thread on Absolute Write the other night. Someone asked everyone if they were a lean writer or a fat writer. I don't think those were the words they used, but they still work.
To my surprise most of the people who answered said they were lean writers, meaning in the rewrite their stories got longer with added detail. For some reason I assumed most writers were fat writers. They would have to go through their drafts and whack bits and pieces away to get at the story.
For the record, I consider myself a lean writer. My first draft is the bare bones. I am just framing out the house. It's in the rewrites where I hang the sheetrock and get some paint on the walls.
I wonder how you write. Are you thick or thin? Lean or fat?
To my surprise most of the people who answered said they were lean writers, meaning in the rewrite their stories got longer with added detail. For some reason I assumed most writers were fat writers. They would have to go through their drafts and whack bits and pieces away to get at the story.
For the record, I consider myself a lean writer. My first draft is the bare bones. I am just framing out the house. It's in the rewrites where I hang the sheetrock and get some paint on the walls.
I wonder how you write. Are you thick or thin? Lean or fat?
Progress
Got another 614 words out last night on the monster story. It came easy again which is nice. It felt like a few years ago when I was churning things out pretty quickly. Whether or not that's good I am not sure. I only like about half of what I wrote a few years ago, but I suspect that's the case or most writers.
I think what happened was I turned off my internal editor for the first time in a long time and just let whatever came into my head come out of my fingers and onto the keys. I know that a lot of it was telling and not showing and will have to be fixed in the rewrite. And there are other parts that will just disappear all together when I go back through with the red pen.
I think we are working our way to the climax. When I sat down to write I knew where I wanted to start, I knew the inciting incident and I knew the ending but had no idea how I would get there. I've enjoyed the journey and like the path my main character seems to be taking. I can see the areas that I need to flesh out and some of the details that I need to polish. But I'm still making progress.
I think what happened was I turned off my internal editor for the first time in a long time and just let whatever came into my head come out of my fingers and onto the keys. I know that a lot of it was telling and not showing and will have to be fixed in the rewrite. And there are other parts that will just disappear all together when I go back through with the red pen.
I think we are working our way to the climax. When I sat down to write I knew where I wanted to start, I knew the inciting incident and I knew the ending but had no idea how I would get there. I've enjoyed the journey and like the path my main character seems to be taking. I can see the areas that I need to flesh out and some of the details that I need to polish. But I'm still making progress.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Applying visual arts training to writing
I link to Steve Bucheit's blog from the right side. He's under author blogs. He had a post the other day reacting to something John Scalzi said on his blog, reacting to something another writer said on her blog. Confused yet?
Anyway, that part isn't so much important. What you need to know here is that Steve mentioned he had some college training in illustration. That prompted me to ask, in the comments, how his visual training helped or hurt his writing. I found his answer both longer than expected and much more informational.
Go read it. There is some really great stuff there on keeping your focus on what tells the story.
I think he has the makings of a good blog post there and encouraged him to write more on the subject. I 'll let you know if he does. Or you can just keep checking his blog. It's worth your time.
Anyway, that part isn't so much important. What you need to know here is that Steve mentioned he had some college training in illustration. That prompted me to ask, in the comments, how his visual training helped or hurt his writing. I found his answer both longer than expected and much more informational.
Go read it. There is some really great stuff there on keeping your focus on what tells the story.
I think he has the makings of a good blog post there and encouraged him to write more on the subject. I 'll let you know if he does. Or you can just keep checking his blog. It's worth your time.
Monday, July 13, 2009
It's all about relationships
I read the blog of comedy writer/baseball announcer Ken Levine pretty regularly. A blog post that he put up a few days ago coincided with a podcast that I was listening to a few days earlier while I was at the gym. It featured Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci the two writers of the new Star Trek movie.
All of these people were talking about the importance of characters and how, in the end, there is nothing more important than characters and the relationships between them. None of the things that happen in the story matter if the relationships don't work.
Levine's post was about being pitched ideas for sitcoms. He complained that people always told him about funny situations but no one ever tells him about the people who are in those funny situations. He put it this way.
Before they worked significantly on the story they were going to tell they had to figure out that the relationship they focused on was going to be the brother-like relationship between Kirk and Spock.
For some reason all of this is sticking with me lately. I don't know what it means or why I am keying in on characters and their relationships lately, but I am. And these observations by others has been a wonderful reminder for me and a bit of a wake-up call.
In the pieces I have been working on lately I have been writing from one exciting incident to another, working my way through my mental outline just trying to get to the next bullet point. What I have been ignoring are the characters I am putting in those exciting incidents.
It's a nice reminder that this is something I need to work on.
All of these people were talking about the importance of characters and how, in the end, there is nothing more important than characters and the relationships between them. None of the things that happen in the story matter if the relationships don't work.
Levine's post was about being pitched ideas for sitcoms. He complained that people always told him about funny situations but no one ever tells him about the people who are in those funny situations. He put it this way.
Here’s what nobody ever pitches me: a show about a relationship. THE OFFICE is funny because of the relationship between Michael and his employees. It is funnier still because of the relationships among the employees. What they actually manufacture is completely unimportant.The guys who wrote Star Trek -- which I liked, by the way, but not as much as many others -- said that in their writing process they don't start outlining their story until they know who their characters are going to be and what kind of relationships they will have.
Start with the characters first.
What about the dynamics between them are interesting, fresh, and could sustain stories week after week? And then, what is the best setting to put them in? One that hasn’t been seen before is a plus but not imperative. How many shows and plays and radio series have been set in bars?
Before they worked significantly on the story they were going to tell they had to figure out that the relationship they focused on was going to be the brother-like relationship between Kirk and Spock.
For some reason all of this is sticking with me lately. I don't know what it means or why I am keying in on characters and their relationships lately, but I am. And these observations by others has been a wonderful reminder for me and a bit of a wake-up call.
In the pieces I have been working on lately I have been writing from one exciting incident to another, working my way through my mental outline just trying to get to the next bullet point. What I have been ignoring are the characters I am putting in those exciting incidents.
It's a nice reminder that this is something I need to work on.
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