Daily Goal: 500 words.
Yesterday I wrote 0 words.
Sundays/Stories Finished: 4/0.
Another Sunday came and went, and I still haven't finished a story. If I had set myself the modest goal of completing one short story each month, I would have failed at that too, at this point.
I am still working on the same story, if one could call it work. My thoughts are still on it, when I think about writing. Either that or they are on this blog. I guess that is a good thing. I know from experience, however, that actually trying to write a paragraph or a scene is so much more fruitful than just walking around doing day to day stuff and pondering about a story.
When I do have a little bit of time for myself I still turn to reading. I keep saying to myself, Let me just get this one novel done with and I'll start writing. But there is always another novel waiting.
My parents are coming in a week, which usually means that the next month will be a busy one. Viking-con is also approaching, as is my birthday. I hope to attend the former, hope to dodge the latter. Alas, things will probably turn out the other way around.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Friday, September 28, 2012
What to read next?
Daily Goal: 500 words.
Yesterday I wrote 0 words.
Sundays/Stories Finished: 3/0.
I really shouldn't worry about what novel to read next. I should stick to reading a short story each day and spend the rest of my free time writing. I can't help getting excited, however, when I am nearing the end of the novel I am currently reading, about what I should read next. There are so many good, tantalizing novels still on he shelf.
I am reading Citadel of the Autarch, by Gene Wolfe. Although I have enjoyed the series, I do not think I will seek out another Wolfe novel quite yet. Though there are a number of novels set in the same universe as the Book of the New Sun series.
I have been feeling tired and down lately. Therefore I was thinking of reading something to cheer me up - a comedy. I have heard great things about A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole, so when I finally do start another comedy, I think that will be it.
Another option would be to read a lugubrious novel, where I might identify with the protagonist. The novel Stoner, by John Williams, has long been on my reading list and might just fit the bill from what I've read.
A third option would be to drop the long, old reading list and try to keep up with what is current. I could pick up J. K. Rowling's The Casual Vacancy, which I am sure will play a larger part in literary fora for some time than the classics above.
I still have a number of pages to go through still, however, and as earlier mentioned, I shouldn't really be thinking about the next novel to read.
Yesterday I wrote 0 words.
Sundays/Stories Finished: 3/0.
I really shouldn't worry about what novel to read next. I should stick to reading a short story each day and spend the rest of my free time writing. I can't help getting excited, however, when I am nearing the end of the novel I am currently reading, about what I should read next. There are so many good, tantalizing novels still on he shelf.
I am reading Citadel of the Autarch, by Gene Wolfe. Although I have enjoyed the series, I do not think I will seek out another Wolfe novel quite yet. Though there are a number of novels set in the same universe as the Book of the New Sun series.
I have been feeling tired and down lately. Therefore I was thinking of reading something to cheer me up - a comedy. I have heard great things about A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole, so when I finally do start another comedy, I think that will be it.
Another option would be to read a lugubrious novel, where I might identify with the protagonist. The novel Stoner, by John Williams, has long been on my reading list and might just fit the bill from what I've read.
A third option would be to drop the long, old reading list and try to keep up with what is current. I could pick up J. K. Rowling's The Casual Vacancy, which I am sure will play a larger part in literary fora for some time than the classics above.
I still have a number of pages to go through still, however, and as earlier mentioned, I shouldn't really be thinking about the next novel to read.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Writing again
Daily Goal: 500 words.
Yesterday I wrote 200 words.
Sundays/Stories finished: 3/0.
I didn't really write 200 words yesterday. I wrote them today and I did it in longhand. I don't feel like counting them up, but I think 200 is a good guess.
Here is a little sample picture of my writing. I Don't know how it'll look like published. I, still, write all this from my Galaxy Tab, using an application called Bloggerdroid, and it is all text. There is no easy way to see how the image will be formatted in the published post.
What I wrote earlier today is more of the synopsis for a short story. I can't really call it a synopsis any longer, because it is getting detailed. I got the idea from YouTube video (I'll post it if I ever come across it again). The idea is to write increasingly more detailed synopses (is that correct in plural?). Once you end up with an account that is perhaps a quarter of the length you intend the story to be, then you start on the real thing.
In theory, I should never get stuck in the real work of writing the story, because I know everything that happends. I won't suddenly find myself stuck. Often enough you think up a storyline where two characters drive to a destination and when you start writing that scene you realize you don't know what they talk about, even though you had envisioned that it took up a significant part of the story.
So you get stuck and you don't write anymore and you leave the story for a day or two and suddenly it's gone. Hopefully this new exercise will get rid of that. It is offcourse a little bit of extra work, but I have to say it looks like it could work and I have enjoyed writing it. The synopsis isn't finished yet, but not a lot is missing and soon I hope to start writing the real story.
Yesterday I wrote 200 words.
Sundays/Stories finished: 3/0.
I didn't really write 200 words yesterday. I wrote them today and I did it in longhand. I don't feel like counting them up, but I think 200 is a good guess.
Here is a little sample picture of my writing. I Don't know how it'll look like published. I, still, write all this from my Galaxy Tab, using an application called Bloggerdroid, and it is all text. There is no easy way to see how the image will be formatted in the published post.
What I wrote earlier today is more of the synopsis for a short story. I can't really call it a synopsis any longer, because it is getting detailed. I got the idea from YouTube video (I'll post it if I ever come across it again). The idea is to write increasingly more detailed synopses (is that correct in plural?). Once you end up with an account that is perhaps a quarter of the length you intend the story to be, then you start on the real thing.
In theory, I should never get stuck in the real work of writing the story, because I know everything that happends. I won't suddenly find myself stuck. Often enough you think up a storyline where two characters drive to a destination and when you start writing that scene you realize you don't know what they talk about, even though you had envisioned that it took up a significant part of the story.
So you get stuck and you don't write anymore and you leave the story for a day or two and suddenly it's gone. Hopefully this new exercise will get rid of that. It is offcourse a little bit of extra work, but I have to say it looks like it could work and I have enjoyed writing it. The synopsis isn't finished yet, but not a lot is missing and soon I hope to start writing the real story.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Orderly writing
Daily Goal: 500 words.
Yesterday I wrote 0 words.
Sundays/Stories Finished: 3/0.
Today has been busy, as most are. My wife went to see a friend so I put the baby to sleep. We also made an effort, my wife and I, to clean the living room and although we have some way to go, it feels good to be writing this in a clean enviroment.
I need that when I write. Quiet and order, a clean room, the coffee made, the desk free of clutter, nothing waiting - like the dishes. I can still write without all those things, so I guess 'need' is not the correct term. I wrote my master's thesis without all that. What I mean is I need everything in order if I am to enjoy writing. My days, as they are now, don't offer much order and quiet, so I don't particularily enjoy writing.
Perhaps the rant above is just another excuse. I probably spend more time finding excuses for not writing, than I do writing. I love to read, currently. I crave it. I think that it is yet another ploy to keep from staring at that empty page.
I have thought about giving longhand a chance. Perhaps I should get myself a legal pad and a pen and just leave the house for an evening or two each week. I wonder what place I can go to? I could just take a bus. To the end station and back. Perhaps I'll try that soon.
Tomorrow I have plans. My brother is leaving again and I need to see him so I can pick up the keys to my parent's apartment. I meant to make plans to see him before he left. Really see him, I mean, like go out to see a movie, not just pick up keys. The days were just filled up, however, and I never got around to it.
Yesterday I wrote 0 words.
Sundays/Stories Finished: 3/0.
Today has been busy, as most are. My wife went to see a friend so I put the baby to sleep. We also made an effort, my wife and I, to clean the living room and although we have some way to go, it feels good to be writing this in a clean enviroment.
I need that when I write. Quiet and order, a clean room, the coffee made, the desk free of clutter, nothing waiting - like the dishes. I can still write without all those things, so I guess 'need' is not the correct term. I wrote my master's thesis without all that. What I mean is I need everything in order if I am to enjoy writing. My days, as they are now, don't offer much order and quiet, so I don't particularily enjoy writing.
Perhaps the rant above is just another excuse. I probably spend more time finding excuses for not writing, than I do writing. I love to read, currently. I crave it. I think that it is yet another ploy to keep from staring at that empty page.
I have thought about giving longhand a chance. Perhaps I should get myself a legal pad and a pen and just leave the house for an evening or two each week. I wonder what place I can go to? I could just take a bus. To the end station and back. Perhaps I'll try that soon.
Tomorrow I have plans. My brother is leaving again and I need to see him so I can pick up the keys to my parent's apartment. I meant to make plans to see him before he left. Really see him, I mean, like go out to see a movie, not just pick up keys. The days were just filled up, however, and I never got around to it.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Time creeps, time flies.
Daily Goal 500 words.
Yesterday I wrote 0 words.
Sundays/Stories Finished: 3/0.
I think days are dreadfully long, now that I have a kid. Random people, distant relatives, strangers on the bus, keep saying, Enjoy it while it lasts, before you know it she'll be grown up. You've heard that cliche, I am sure. I don't think it's all true, but it isn't all wrong either. Days with a kid are dreadfully long, sometimes, but on the other hand, you never really get to the bottom of things.
One example is the dishes (I don't own a dishwasher). I used to like washing dishes. Doing them gave me back some energy after dinner. Otherwise, I'd just sit in front of the computer after eating and waste the evening. Then you meet someone - in my case I got married - and you are suddenly doing the dishes for two people. It is still enjoyable, but on occasions it becomes a little bit of a hassle: If you don't watch out a mountain can pile up. A baby uses up an incredible amount of plates and cups and spoons: much more than a grown-up.
Now I am doing the dishes for what seems like four people and I have to do it while taking care of a baby. Furhtermore, I can't do them while she is asleep, or she'll wake up, which means I'll have to have them washed before she goes to bed at around seven o'clock in the evening.
I worry about them constantly. It is the same with doing the laundry, the cooking, the cleaning, and the shopping. The amount of milk one buys every trip to the mall. I have to bring my school bag, lest my arms fall off on the way back home. It is even a relief, when she's good, to bring the baby, because you can pile the groceries into the carriage.
What my point is - about time perception - is that it seems that one never really finishes anything. There isn't enough time to do all the stuff that needs doing. At some point in the future, I imagine, I will finally finish that metaphorical pile of dirty dishes. Suddenly I will find myself with time to spare again: time to think and to reflect. In hindsight I'll think, How time just flew away.
Yesterday I wrote 0 words.
Sundays/Stories Finished: 3/0.
I think days are dreadfully long, now that I have a kid. Random people, distant relatives, strangers on the bus, keep saying, Enjoy it while it lasts, before you know it she'll be grown up. You've heard that cliche, I am sure. I don't think it's all true, but it isn't all wrong either. Days with a kid are dreadfully long, sometimes, but on the other hand, you never really get to the bottom of things.
One example is the dishes (I don't own a dishwasher). I used to like washing dishes. Doing them gave me back some energy after dinner. Otherwise, I'd just sit in front of the computer after eating and waste the evening. Then you meet someone - in my case I got married - and you are suddenly doing the dishes for two people. It is still enjoyable, but on occasions it becomes a little bit of a hassle: If you don't watch out a mountain can pile up. A baby uses up an incredible amount of plates and cups and spoons: much more than a grown-up.
Now I am doing the dishes for what seems like four people and I have to do it while taking care of a baby. Furhtermore, I can't do them while she is asleep, or she'll wake up, which means I'll have to have them washed before she goes to bed at around seven o'clock in the evening.
I worry about them constantly. It is the same with doing the laundry, the cooking, the cleaning, and the shopping. The amount of milk one buys every trip to the mall. I have to bring my school bag, lest my arms fall off on the way back home. It is even a relief, when she's good, to bring the baby, because you can pile the groceries into the carriage.
What my point is - about time perception - is that it seems that one never really finishes anything. There isn't enough time to do all the stuff that needs doing. At some point in the future, I imagine, I will finally finish that metaphorical pile of dirty dishes. Suddenly I will find myself with time to spare again: time to think and to reflect. In hindsight I'll think, How time just flew away.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Finished Sword of the Lictor
Daily Goal 500 words.
Yesterday I wrote 0 words.
Sundays/Stories finished 3/0.
Another week has gone and I am nowhere near completing a story. I should have had three completed short stories now 'out there' being considered.
Alas the time I do have for myself I spend reading. I have finished Sword of the Lictor and started Citadel of the Autarch, the last in the series, by Gene Wolfe. I find myself already planning what to read next and I really shouldn't. I should stick to reading one short story a day and spending the rest of my free time writing.
Sword of the Lictor was wonderful. I ought to have written a detailed review, but I don't have the time and energy tonight. I found out there is an illustrated and signed edition of the four novels. How cool they would fit on my shelf, but what little means I rule are better spent elsewhere.
I will end this post here. Tired, as always, want to read more before I go to bed, as I mostly do too, Have plenty to say, but no energy to say it with. What is the title of that short story? 'I have no mouth but I must scream'. I feel like writing, but I am always too tired, it seems. Probably just a bad excuse. I just need more discipline and routine.
Yesterday I wrote 0 words.
Sundays/Stories finished 3/0.
Another week has gone and I am nowhere near completing a story. I should have had three completed short stories now 'out there' being considered.
Alas the time I do have for myself I spend reading. I have finished Sword of the Lictor and started Citadel of the Autarch, the last in the series, by Gene Wolfe. I find myself already planning what to read next and I really shouldn't. I should stick to reading one short story a day and spending the rest of my free time writing.
Sword of the Lictor was wonderful. I ought to have written a detailed review, but I don't have the time and energy tonight. I found out there is an illustrated and signed edition of the four novels. How cool they would fit on my shelf, but what little means I rule are better spent elsewhere.
I will end this post here. Tired, as always, want to read more before I go to bed, as I mostly do too, Have plenty to say, but no energy to say it with. What is the title of that short story? 'I have no mouth but I must scream'. I feel like writing, but I am always too tired, it seems. Probably just a bad excuse. I just need more discipline and routine.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Reading Gene Wolfe instead of writing
Daily Goal: 500 words.
Yesterday I wrote 0 words.
Sundays/Stories finished: 2/0.
I had a busy day again today. My brother came back from Thailand, where he has been at a kickboxing camp (I write kickboxing, because I would probably misspell, Muy Thai, is it?), and me, my wife, with baby in tow, went to see him settled in. He is going to stay in Denmark for a few days, so perhaps we can catch a movie before he leaves.
Anyway, there hasn't been much time for writing. If I really wanted to, I could have spent perhaps an hour or so writing, but I spent it reading instead. The novel I am currently reading, I am on the last few chapters, is Sword of the Lictor, by Gene Wolfe. It is the third novel in his series called the Book of the New Sun. I have heard (read rather) great things about Gene Wolfe, but I have to confess that I have been a little disappointed until now. The first two novels of the series, The Shadow of the Torturer and Claw of the Conciliator, did not sweep me of my feet. Don't get me wrong, they are entertaining books, well written, set in an interesting universe, with a great protagonist. I wouldn't consider them candidates from the greates living English writer, however. The Sword of the Lictor, on the other hand, does enter into another level of quality. I'll tell you what I think when I finish the series.
It is late here, so I will sign off for now. I also want to finish the novel before I go to sleep and it is already too late.
Yesterday I wrote 0 words.
Sundays/Stories finished: 2/0.
I had a busy day again today. My brother came back from Thailand, where he has been at a kickboxing camp (I write kickboxing, because I would probably misspell, Muy Thai, is it?), and me, my wife, with baby in tow, went to see him settled in. He is going to stay in Denmark for a few days, so perhaps we can catch a movie before he leaves.
Anyway, there hasn't been much time for writing. If I really wanted to, I could have spent perhaps an hour or so writing, but I spent it reading instead. The novel I am currently reading, I am on the last few chapters, is Sword of the Lictor, by Gene Wolfe. It is the third novel in his series called the Book of the New Sun. I have heard (read rather) great things about Gene Wolfe, but I have to confess that I have been a little disappointed until now. The first two novels of the series, The Shadow of the Torturer and Claw of the Conciliator, did not sweep me of my feet. Don't get me wrong, they are entertaining books, well written, set in an interesting universe, with a great protagonist. I wouldn't consider them candidates from the greates living English writer, however. The Sword of the Lictor, on the other hand, does enter into another level of quality. I'll tell you what I think when I finish the series.
It is late here, so I will sign off for now. I also want to finish the novel before I go to sleep and it is already too late.
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