#10

so, my housemate's ex-girlfriend came to visit last night.

she was running early and my housemate was running late, so we ended up hanging out on our own for an hour and a half, watching Back to the Future and having a really intelligent conversation about product placement in Hollywood.

fast forward to now, and my housemate's current girlfriend is sitting on the couch, talking about how funny Will Ferrell is and shouting quotes at the television while watching Step Brothers.

fuck my life.

#9

editing.

for some writers, it's the bane of their existence. they dream up plots, they create characters, they produce copy; but when it comes to proof-reading and fixing their continuity errors, they'd rather leave the general editing to somebody else.

I've never understood the logic in that, though.

call me a pedantic douche (you wouldn't be the first), but if you slave away at the keyboard and put hours and hours of effort into your writing, wouldn't you at least try to give it a once-over and make sure that it's as polished as it can possibly be?

I mean, Jesus, is it really that hard to click this button...



...and walk through a couple of pre-ordained steps?

I mean, come on. really?

anyway, as you've probably gathered from my introductory rant, I'm pretty much the self-editing writer from hell. I don't just write a sentence, I rewrite it. then I rewrite it again. and again.

why?

because I'm a perfectionist.

I know that might seem funny, since this blog is pretty much devoid of capital letters, but I'm a complete Nazi when it comes to my writing. hell, I'm the sort of person who worries about how many syllables there are in each sentence. if a big, clumsy word interrupts a paragraph's flow, it gets deleted. I even keep a thesaurus near my laptop, just in case I want to substitute a two-syllable synonym for a three-syllable word.

and you know why? because that's the type of person I am.

but in all seriousness, I don't understand how people can put stuff out in the public forum when it's riddled with spelling mistakes and continuity errors. I mean, come on. who'd want to actually put their name to that?

anyway, moving on...

I'm currently in the middle of editing Chapter One of The Middle. actually, I should correct that. I'm currently in the middle of re-writing Chapter One of The Middle.

why?

because it just wasn't very good.

I mean, there were some really nice ideas in there, and there are some even nicer ones developing in future chapters, but the whole thing just reads like the hastily-assembled side-project that it actually was.

(note: when I say 'side-project', I mean 'chucked together in two days after my originals of The Things You Fear The Most were held hostage by a faulty laptop battery')

so anyway, after realising that my previous work suffered from lack of direction and verbiage, I've decided to go back and re-write the whole thing. that means canning my previous introduction, tidying up some errant dialogue, sharpening the overall focus, and adding some depth to the all-important back story.

I've also decided to aim for a darker tone, researching the symptoms of clinical depression so I can incorporate them into the story. after all, if my main character has spent the past couple of weeks sleeping twelve hours a day, chances are he's going to be at least somewhat depressed.

it might help the story resonate with people who've shared similar experiences, as well. I'm not really in the business of changing lives, but if a reader emails me and says yes, you portrayed very realistically, then I've probably done my job as an author.

I also think it's important to get the initial 'depression scenes' right, as they need to be juxtaposed against (SPOILER ALERT) moments of happiness (*GASP* "there's moments of happiness?!?!") later in the story.

I also don't want to fall into the trap of other inexperienced authors, using 'physical injury' as a plot advice and then living happily ever after once their character has left hospital. if your major plot event doesn't have lingering repercussions, what's the point of even having it in there?

and that brings me to my final point...

I'm really interested in exploring the mental aspects of physical injury. like, really really interested. if you have a big car accident, how do you feel when you jump back behind that wheel for the first time? if you break your leg on the football field, how do you feel the first time you plant that foot and go to pass the ball?

it's said that the mental scars can remain long after the physical ones heal, so how long does the mental healing process take? what are the significant milestones along the way? what sort of person are you when you walk out the other side?

if I can touch on all of that in my story, it might just turn out alright.

anyway, just thought I'd give you all a quick update. now I'm off to do another quick read-through and continue with my rewrite.

or, should I say, rewrites.

peace.

PS: "There is no such thing as good writing, only good re-writing." – Louis D. Brandeis.

#8

so, I went clothes shopping yesterday.

I know, you were probably expecting something much more exciting after a five-week absence, but that's what I'm going to lead off with.

I went clothes shopping and bought lots of new clothes. new socks, new underpants, new t-shirts, new shorts, new business shirts, a couple of new dress shirts... oh, and a free carry bag thing for spending over $100 at one of the stores.

overall, it was a rather productive day.

yes, I just referred to clothes shopping as 'productive'.

I know I should be getting excited and talking about labels and the general wonders of clothes shopping, but as you will come to realise throughout the duration of your stay, I'm pretty much the World's Worst Gay when it comes to image and fashion.

I mean, I like to look good, and I'd like to think that I know how to dress myself, but the whole experience of clothes shopping just shits me to tears. I mean, come on, I'm not going to spend $500 on a pair of jeans just so some coke-snorting sales assistant can tell me 'oh, that look is so now'. if I wanted a vapid twenty-something girl's approval, I'd drink imported beer and remix Calvin Harris songs.

anyway, enough of that.

you've probably noticed that I'm on a bit of a writing hiatus at the moment. haven't got writer's block or anything, just needed to get away for a few days and sort out some work issues. all good now, though. having said that, I'm going to switch focus for a little while, and work on something that's a bit more upbeat. as much as I love the direction of A Shot of Clarity, the story is quite intense, and I don't want to be coming home from a stressful job and spending my free time trying to create a stressful environment for my characters.

so, I've taken the chance to read through some of my other work-in-progress stuff, and I'm going to try and get some writing done on one of my 'happier' stories. I'm currently leaning toward The Middle. I haven't actually posted the first chapter on this blog yet, but I'm crafting it as a sort-of 'family portrait', documenting a couple's divorce through the eyes of their teenage son. the story also has a coming-of-age element, as the protagonist recovers from a serious sports injury and begins to reassess his direction in life. I've also thrown a bit of a mystery sub-plot in there, but you'll have to wait to see what that's about.

anyway, I've got approximately 10,000 words already written, so I might put some serious energy into that story and see how much I can get written before Christmas. I'd promise you some posting dates, but we all know useless I am when it comes to meeting self-imposed deadlines.

just sit tight and trust that I'm working on something good!

modesty never was one of my strong points...

peace.