Two-year-old child and I are outside blowing bubbles.
Me: Do you think President Obama blows bubbles with his daughters?*
Child: I think he does not.
Me: Oh no? Why?
Child: I think he gets people presents.
Me: Yeah? You think he gets people presents? What kind of presents?
Child: Because his name is Presents Obama.
Me: Fair enough.
* Yes, that was my best shot at getting a two-year-old to talk politics with me.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Envision Revision
I need a hard deadline for my revision. Otherwise I'll obsess over little changes and never take the plunge of entering the marketplace. So I found a neat little visual at Writertopia which will be taking up residence on my blog.
This shows that I'm 4,183 words into a 90,000 word revision. 90,000 is a little arbitrary. My previous draft is 85,397. I expect my new draft to be about the same because I want to add some scenes and cut down others but I wanted to leave some room for exploring directions that might not pan out. Given my current obsession with numbers, my little guy's mood is "logical and calm."
My goal is to "deal with" 2,000 words a day for 50 days. When I say "deal with" I think I want to count the words at the end of the day -- revised version, not the old version. I'm curious how other people track progress though and would love to hear about it in comments!
Counting the couple of days I've already logged and leaving one day a week for breaks and catch-up plus a few extras that makes my deadline November 9th.
Do you think I can do it?
This shows that I'm 4,183 words into a 90,000 word revision. 90,000 is a little arbitrary. My previous draft is 85,397. I expect my new draft to be about the same because I want to add some scenes and cut down others but I wanted to leave some room for exploring directions that might not pan out. Given my current obsession with numbers, my little guy's mood is "logical and calm."
My goal is to "deal with" 2,000 words a day for 50 days. When I say "deal with" I think I want to count the words at the end of the day -- revised version, not the old version. I'm curious how other people track progress though and would love to hear about it in comments!
Counting the couple of days I've already logged and leaving one day a week for breaks and catch-up plus a few extras that makes my deadline November 9th.
Do you think I can do it?
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Just what I needed
Thanks, Gwenda for linking to Dawn Metcalf's post "The Generous Nothing," in which she talks about the angst of revision as ILLUMINATED by The Neverending Story. Falkor can always make me feel better -- even if he wants me to cut a lot of words.
I'm revising. I'm just starting from the beginning because after muddling around with notes and trying to write new scenes, I've realized I really just need to re-enter the story and see what that lets me see.
I delayed and delayed getting to work tonight, but now that the bandaid's been ripped off, I feel less antsy.
I'm revising. I'm just starting from the beginning because after muddling around with notes and trying to write new scenes, I've realized I really just need to re-enter the story and see what that lets me see.
I delayed and delayed getting to work tonight, but now that the bandaid's been ripped off, I feel less antsy.
Happy first day of school!
Signs like this are strewn all over Chicago.
Just go! Just go, already.
To school. We meant to school, in case that wasn't clear. Okay? Please? Just go?
And become . . .
Something . . . All right? We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Just go.
I do hope everybody went and had a happy first day. I had a happy first day of meeting and lesson planning for the Monkey after-school program. Very nice.
Just go! Just go, already.
To school. We meant to school, in case that wasn't clear. Okay? Please? Just go?
And become . . .
Something . . . All right? We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Just go.
I do hope everybody went and had a happy first day. I had a happy first day of meeting and lesson planning for the Monkey after-school program. Very nice.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Stuff I did on a Sunday
Today I . . .
Clawed at a wall with my hands and nails, a wall I'd just finished painting, even though the wall was half chalk and came away with the brush. That made the clawing more fun.
Also I . . .
Went mattress hunting in the alleys and found one that didn't smell bad.
I . . .
Used the word "abject" to describe Chia Pets. Found a free TV on Craigslist. Found a DVD player in a hole in the ceiling. Played a hot action figure with blast power. Led a mean sun salutation. Watched more Season 4 of The Wire. Listened to the Best of the Left podcast, which I so love, even when it makes me angry. Prepared for tomorrow's fantasy draft -- for a friend's team.
Yes, I'm a proxy for a hobby.
Clawed at a wall with my hands and nails, a wall I'd just finished painting, even though the wall was half chalk and came away with the brush. That made the clawing more fun.
Also I . . .
Went mattress hunting in the alleys and found one that didn't smell bad.
I . . .
Used the word "abject" to describe Chia Pets. Found a free TV on Craigslist. Found a DVD player in a hole in the ceiling. Played a hot action figure with blast power. Led a mean sun salutation. Watched more Season 4 of The Wire. Listened to the Best of the Left podcast, which I so love, even when it makes me angry. Prepared for tomorrow's fantasy draft -- for a friend's team.
Yes, I'm a proxy for a hobby.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
I don't hate myself
Sometimes it feels good to hate yourself, as shown in this sweet play my friend Kurt made for the Neo-Futurists. (Via the Neo blog.)
I was ready to hate myself after reading my novel.
The "nap" turned into a good hour and a half of snoozing. I cleaned a couple of things that didn't need cleaning. I lit incense, made tea, walked the dog who already had sore tootsies from a looong morning walk with Larissa. Took my car by a garage, paid some library fines, thought about getting back into World of Warcraft. I basically did everything I could think of to avoid sitting down with my manuscript.
BUT I sat down for a good three hours and read half my novel. So far I don't hate myself.
If I did, it would be okay. I would get over it. It's okay to hate yourself every now and again. Right now I don't.
I was ready to hate myself after reading my novel.
The "nap" turned into a good hour and a half of snoozing. I cleaned a couple of things that didn't need cleaning. I lit incense, made tea, walked the dog who already had sore tootsies from a looong morning walk with Larissa. Took my car by a garage, paid some library fines, thought about getting back into World of Warcraft. I basically did everything I could think of to avoid sitting down with my manuscript.
BUT I sat down for a good three hours and read half my novel. So far I don't hate myself.
If I did, it would be okay. I would get over it. It's okay to hate yourself every now and again. Right now I don't.
Back to work
I gave myself today as a deadline to get back to work on Touch. Which means I have to read it. I got a late start today because one of my favorite people on this planet came through town late last night and played with me most of the day.
No worries, I still have plenty of time for reading. As long as I just read. A couple of days ago I started reading, and I got through 24 pages and wrote 6 dense pages of notes.
This time I'm going to try to just read.
Right after I take a nap.
No worries, I still have plenty of time for reading. As long as I just read. A couple of days ago I started reading, and I got through 24 pages and wrote 6 dense pages of notes.
This time I'm going to try to just read.
Right after I take a nap.
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