#6

so, I thought it might be time for a new blog.

I'm not sure what it's going to be about yet, so just hang in there and we'll figure it out as we go.

to set the scene, I'm currently sitting on the couch in my pajamas, watching my housemate (Dan) play Gran Turismo 5 on the PS3. this would be both fast and exciting, except he's racing a Mazda 2 against a field made up of Peugeot 207s, Daihatsu Sirions and Honda Jazzes. as things stand, it's more like just above the speed limit and exciting.

another hindrance to my excitement is the fact that Gran Turismo 5 takes a million light years to load just about every screen. it's feels like 1999 and WWF SmackDown 2 all over again. at least Gran Turismo 5 doesn't have photos of Val Venis and Crash Holly as part of its interstitials, I suppose.

now Dan's undertaking a NASCAR lesson at Jeff Gordon's Driving School. without wanting to be cynical, I don't imagine that 'turn the steering wheel right' is part of its curriculum.

anyway, enough about my housemate's racing car bed fantasies.

actually, I lie, he's just started racing 1960s Volkswagen Kombi vans around the famed Top Gear test track. I feel like this is noteworthy.

anyway, since today was my rostered day off from work, I've spent a large portion of the day constructing Part Two of A Shot of Clarity. needless to say, it's been a rather slow and difficult process. hours and hours and hours of work, for only 645 words total. they're 645 good words, though. I'd just prefer that they were great words.

to turn them into 'great' words, I think I'll need to improve the overall tonal consistency. I've got one particular character who is supposed to be a bit of a disciplinarian, yet I found myself drifting into more of a 'sarcastic' territory as I continued to write the scene. this wasn't my original intention for the character, so I'll have to go back and tidy it up after I've completed the writing of this blog.

I'm also having a bit of trouble with the inner monologue for one of my characters, which is quite frustrating. without wanting to give too much away, the character is Jake's girlfriend (Sophie), and her voice is particularly important for this portion of the story. the one-dimensionality of female characters has always been a weak point in my writing, so hopefully I can work through it fairly quickly and make Part Two at least readable. then I'll get Parts Three and Four out in fairly short order and get into the really good stuff,

needless to say, Parts Five to Seven are where all the action is at.

anyway, that's all I have to say.

keep an eye out for Part Two of A Shot of Clarity, hopefully in the next 48 hours. if you don't see it by the end of the week, you can safely assume that I'm dead.

or, you know, dying.

Peace