www.therapistinstlouis.com
www.stlouissextherapist.com
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Larry David Moment
Writing status. I have decided to write mostly short stories for the time being. My attention span, along with my free time, have come up short over the last few weeks, and this whole novel writing endeavor's flustering abilities are in full force. Instead, I will continue to write, but focus on short stories for now.
In all, I have written 1 complete novel, 3/4 of another novel, 1/2 of another, and two 50 page beginnings to two others. I have to admit, that I have a wandering mind when it comes to writing. I won't even go into how many short stories I have started and bailed on. I do have a LOT more completed short stories, though.
Anyways, on to the Larry David moment:
A few weeks ago, the ladies in my office, lovely ladies who could not be nicer to me, decided to throw a baby shower / Potluck for one of the managers in my office. She actually popped the tyke out on 8/8/08. The thing is, I had only been with this team for a few months, and I had not spoken more than three words to this woman. She is not my supervisor, so I didn't really have a need to interact with her at all.
So, when the planning for the shower was going on, I was told it was "Optional." Optional is defined as... Optional. I'm not going to look it up. You have the internet. You look it up! Anyway, they said it was optional, but the ladies putting it on strongly encouraged everyone to attend, as the party would be more enjoyable with more people.
I decided I would not go. I didn't know her. I had never been to a baby shower. I had no idea what it would be, other than gifts and food, but I generally spend my lunches writing or doing something else that I don't get much time for.
The day before the shower, my co-worker Gretta asked what I was bringing to the potluck, and I informed her I was not going. She was confused, but let the subject drop.
On the day of the shower, it was pandemonium. A few minutes before it was to start, people started coming up to my desk, telling me to get in there.
"I'm not going," I said.
"Why not?" one woman asked.
"I'm just not into baby showers," I said. Is anyone in to baby showers?
"You sure?" another woman asked.
"Yeah, I'm good," I said.
By the time the fifth or sixth person asked, I felt like a jerk. I regretted not going, but I had already made my decision, and turning back now would make me look like an idiot to those that had asked.
The final person to ask was not my supervisor, not my supervisor's supervisor, but the senior manager of our department. She cocked her head to one side, almost as if I just told her one of my family members had died, and said "Are you sure you don't want to come have some food? There's plenty."
I didn't go, and I felt like Larry David the entire time, always getting himself into socially awkward situations on "Curb Your Enthusiasm."
There is a wedding shower for my supervisor this Friday. Not only am I going, but I already pitched in for a gift with a co-worker and have planned out exactly what I am bringing for the potluck.
The moral of the story: If you work on a team made up of 90 percent women, and they invite you to a baby shower, a wedding shower, or even a shoe-shining shower, you go. You pass Go, collect $200 and damn well GO! If you don't they might think you hate babies, or weddings, or shoe-shiners. Hell, even if you do hate babies, you go!
www.therapistinstlouis.com
www.stlouissextherapist.com
In all, I have written 1 complete novel, 3/4 of another novel, 1/2 of another, and two 50 page beginnings to two others. I have to admit, that I have a wandering mind when it comes to writing. I won't even go into how many short stories I have started and bailed on. I do have a LOT more completed short stories, though.
Anyways, on to the Larry David moment:
A few weeks ago, the ladies in my office, lovely ladies who could not be nicer to me, decided to throw a baby shower / Potluck for one of the managers in my office. She actually popped the tyke out on 8/8/08. The thing is, I had only been with this team for a few months, and I had not spoken more than three words to this woman. She is not my supervisor, so I didn't really have a need to interact with her at all.
So, when the planning for the shower was going on, I was told it was "Optional." Optional is defined as... Optional. I'm not going to look it up. You have the internet. You look it up! Anyway, they said it was optional, but the ladies putting it on strongly encouraged everyone to attend, as the party would be more enjoyable with more people.
I decided I would not go. I didn't know her. I had never been to a baby shower. I had no idea what it would be, other than gifts and food, but I generally spend my lunches writing or doing something else that I don't get much time for.
The day before the shower, my co-worker Gretta asked what I was bringing to the potluck, and I informed her I was not going. She was confused, but let the subject drop.
On the day of the shower, it was pandemonium. A few minutes before it was to start, people started coming up to my desk, telling me to get in there.
"I'm not going," I said.
"Why not?" one woman asked.
"I'm just not into baby showers," I said. Is anyone in to baby showers?
"You sure?" another woman asked.
"Yeah, I'm good," I said.
By the time the fifth or sixth person asked, I felt like a jerk. I regretted not going, but I had already made my decision, and turning back now would make me look like an idiot to those that had asked.
The final person to ask was not my supervisor, not my supervisor's supervisor, but the senior manager of our department. She cocked her head to one side, almost as if I just told her one of my family members had died, and said "Are you sure you don't want to come have some food? There's plenty."
I didn't go, and I felt like Larry David the entire time, always getting himself into socially awkward situations on "Curb Your Enthusiasm."
There is a wedding shower for my supervisor this Friday. Not only am I going, but I already pitched in for a gift with a co-worker and have planned out exactly what I am bringing for the potluck.
The moral of the story: If you work on a team made up of 90 percent women, and they invite you to a baby shower, a wedding shower, or even a shoe-shining shower, you go. You pass Go, collect $200 and damn well GO! If you don't they might think you hate babies, or weddings, or shoe-shiners. Hell, even if you do hate babies, you go!
www.therapistinstlouis.com
www.stlouissextherapist.com
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
So, that didn't happen
I ditched the novel, writing it off as a learning experience and started two new projects. I am four chapters into the next novel, a sci-fi for children, and finished a 6k short story.
I recently joined a critique group, The Wordos, here in Eugene. I turn in my first manuscript for review, the short story I just finished next week. My wife read it and loved it and gave me some comments that I am going to edit tonight, but I can never trust her to not tear my work apart too harshly, which is why I joined the critique group. But I wouldn't want her to do that. She is my wife. If I want to hate someone for destroying my writing, it's best for it to be a stranger.
-Josh
I recently joined a critique group, The Wordos, here in Eugene. I turn in my first manuscript for review, the short story I just finished next week. My wife read it and loved it and gave me some comments that I am going to edit tonight, but I can never trust her to not tear my work apart too harshly, which is why I joined the critique group. But I wouldn't want her to do that. She is my wife. If I want to hate someone for destroying my writing, it's best for it to be a stranger.
-Josh
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Early Finish = Yuck
I completed the Synopsis of my novel on Sunday, a little bit earlier than I had first planned. It turned out to be a twelve page monstrosity. I cringe every time I glance at it. I have a copy sitting on my coffee table that I took a handful of highlighters to. The main problem I see with this first novel of mine, written four years ago, is the multiple perspectives. It is all told in third person, but it switches around. The first chapter is from the point of view of Harold. The second is of Celia. The third jumps back to Harold, and then Rodney midchapter. After that it starts to swirl into a pile a crap, some chapters made up of six different perspectives.
I used the highlighters to mark up the synopsis, one color for each perspective. Some pages look like candy canes and I cringe every time I look at them. I counted out all the shifts in perspective, and there are so many I don't even want to write out the number.
I honestly considered abandoning the project after I saw how many shifts there were. I looked at the manuscript, and considered throwing it in the trash. I didn't, but I am still conflicted about it.
The manuscript has a lot of things fighting for its demise. They feel like children biting at my ankles. I want to just kick them and tell them to go away, but in reality, people don't like it when you kick their children. Problems: I wrote it four years ago, while I was in community college. I wrote it before I was an English major, before I had learned everything I know now, the "Don't EVER, EVER, EVER DO THAT's" and the "That stuff works!." I wrote it over a period of six weeks, the majority of it written in one month. I wrote some chapters of it lit up on cheap wine and / or gin and tonics. Also, I wrote it without a plan for how the plot would be structured.
But it also has some good points: Some chapters make me laugh out loud when I read them. Some chapters make me say, "Oh, that's how it's supposed to work." Even though there is a lot of filler and crap in there that needs to be removed and there is a lot of scenes and character development that needs to be added, it still has potential.
The question I keep asking myself is whether the manuscript is worth it. I can go back to working on my second novel, or my other projects, which will be much easier to polish, and write this first novel off as a learning experience. Most people do not get their first novels published. Even Stephen King, the master of the art of Horror, didn't catch any flies until he wrote his third.
But the idea, the concept is so good: An alien planet run by a hotel. What could be better? I am continuing as scheduled. I must go on. For now!
Current project: Re-write
Weekly Assignment: Try to combine scenes so that only one point of view is shown per chapter.
Due: June 15
I used the highlighters to mark up the synopsis, one color for each perspective. Some pages look like candy canes and I cringe every time I look at them. I counted out all the shifts in perspective, and there are so many I don't even want to write out the number.
I honestly considered abandoning the project after I saw how many shifts there were. I looked at the manuscript, and considered throwing it in the trash. I didn't, but I am still conflicted about it.
The manuscript has a lot of things fighting for its demise. They feel like children biting at my ankles. I want to just kick them and tell them to go away, but in reality, people don't like it when you kick their children. Problems: I wrote it four years ago, while I was in community college. I wrote it before I was an English major, before I had learned everything I know now, the "Don't EVER, EVER, EVER DO THAT's" and the "That stuff works!." I wrote it over a period of six weeks, the majority of it written in one month. I wrote some chapters of it lit up on cheap wine and / or gin and tonics. Also, I wrote it without a plan for how the plot would be structured.
But it also has some good points: Some chapters make me laugh out loud when I read them. Some chapters make me say, "Oh, that's how it's supposed to work." Even though there is a lot of filler and crap in there that needs to be removed and there is a lot of scenes and character development that needs to be added, it still has potential.
The question I keep asking myself is whether the manuscript is worth it. I can go back to working on my second novel, or my other projects, which will be much easier to polish, and write this first novel off as a learning experience. Most people do not get their first novels published. Even Stephen King, the master of the art of Horror, didn't catch any flies until he wrote his third.
But the idea, the concept is so good: An alien planet run by a hotel. What could be better? I am continuing as scheduled. I must go on. For now!
Current project: Re-write
Weekly Assignment: Try to combine scenes so that only one point of view is shown per chapter.
Due: June 15
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Mission + Deadline
Synopsis = June 15
Rewrite of third and final draft = July 30
Query Letter Written and Reviewed = August 5
Query Letters Sent = August 10
These dates are subject to reality and therefore may be subject to delays.
www.therapistinstlouis.com
www.stlouissextherapist.com
Rewrite of third and final draft = July 30
Query Letter Written and Reviewed = August 5
Query Letters Sent = August 10
These dates are subject to reality and therefore may be subject to delays.
www.therapistinstlouis.com
www.stlouissextherapist.com
It Begins + Editing Exercise
So, I started a blag. I experimented in blogs when I was in college, but most of those all ended up being a complete waste of time. This blog has a mission, to track my progress in my mission to scale the publishing world. While there are many goals along the way, such as editing the pants out of my second draft, to getting an agent, the ultimate goal lies in the accumulation of an agent.
The novel, "Project V," is in it's pre-adolecent stage. I wrote the first draft four years ago, in December 04, and while being four years old might be young for humans, this is not so for novels. It has some idea of what it wants to be in the world, but for some reason people still ask whether it's retarded or not. It has a firm grasp of the English language, yet it still stutters every once in a while and requires a firm slap across its face. It's a child-like draft that wants to be a fully fleshed out fucking novel that will fucking sell.
Current Mission: SYNOPSIS
Deadline: June 15
Create a synopsis consisting of a few paragraphs for each chapter written, not to exceed five pages. While writing the draft, keep in mind which scenes might need to be cut out and which scenes might need to be added.
While creating the synopsis, keep these questions in mind:
Are there too many characters?
Are the characters not fleshed out enough?
Did you yourself ever roll your eyes after reading a paragraph? If so, highlight it.
Did you ever question a character's motives? If so, can it be explained? If not, can it be changed?
Do the shifting points of view distract and confuse the reader? (YES!) If so, consider keeping to one point of view within each chapter. (working on that!)
NEXT MISSION: The Rewrite
Thank you, and good writing!
-Josh
The novel, "Project V," is in it's pre-adolecent stage. I wrote the first draft four years ago, in December 04, and while being four years old might be young for humans, this is not so for novels. It has some idea of what it wants to be in the world, but for some reason people still ask whether it's retarded or not. It has a firm grasp of the English language, yet it still stutters every once in a while and requires a firm slap across its face. It's a child-like draft that wants to be a fully fleshed out fucking novel that will fucking sell.
Current Mission: SYNOPSIS
Deadline: June 15
Create a synopsis consisting of a few paragraphs for each chapter written, not to exceed five pages. While writing the draft, keep in mind which scenes might need to be cut out and which scenes might need to be added.
While creating the synopsis, keep these questions in mind:
Are there too many characters?
Are the characters not fleshed out enough?
Did you yourself ever roll your eyes after reading a paragraph? If so, highlight it.
Did you ever question a character's motives? If so, can it be explained? If not, can it be changed?
Do the shifting points of view distract and confuse the reader? (YES!) If so, consider keeping to one point of view within each chapter. (working on that!)
NEXT MISSION: The Rewrite
Thank you, and good writing!
-Josh
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