Life in General...
I got up just after 7:00 AM to see the wife and son
off to school.
While eating my typical bowl of raisin bran, I
watched Sunday's episode (season finale) of Fear
the Walking Dead. Normally, I don't
watch TV until evening, but last week, I had fallen two weeks behind on FtWD.
If I do that again, my brother-in-law might just take me off his Christmas card
list. So far, I like the show. The
characters are interesting. Nick obviously has hero potential. Strand is cool
and mysterious.
The rest of the day toggled between housework
and writing. I wish some of the writing had included fiction, but at least in
one form or another, some words found their way to being written. A doctor's
report listing my back ailments is about as short as a Black Friday Wal-Mart
receipt, so throughout the day, I alternate between sitting or standing. I wash
a couple of dishes, then sit at my desk for 5-10 min (hopefully writing), then
back for a few more dishes or other chores that do not require
bending/twisting/lifting, on and on.
Sometimes I surprise myself. For example, I
outsmarted the laundry basket. Trying to carry a large, rectangular cube down a
narrow hallway sends lightning bolts down both my legs -- assuming I don't fall
and whisper, "Ow," to the tile floor for an embarrassing amount of
time. However, I can hook my cane onto the handle of the basket thus creating a
laundry leash. After that, it follows me around like a well-trained (if
overfed) puppy.
The family returned at about 5:00 PM. Tonya cooked
supper, then we settled down to watch a couple hours of TV.
The Writing and Current Projects...
I am working on two novels. One is a fantasy
thriller set in Alaska, and the other is a suspense/horror story set in the
late-1970s Midwest. Since midsummer, I
concentrated on the horror novel. I thought I finally understood how I could
use an outline.
But that was before I got stuck for three
weeks. People tell me to quit reading
writing how-to books or watching writer videos and just write my way. It always reminds me of Fezzik's line from The Princess Bride, "My way! My way!
Thank you Vizzini. . . . Which was my way?" Looks like I am
probably going to go back to pantsing. Rationally, an outline makes a lot of
sense, but practically--for me, anyway--the idea machine just freezes up. When
I write without a net, I will spend a lot of time watching the cursor blink,
producing a metric ton of pretentious prose, and wandering aimlessly. Words get written, though. I'll take that any day.
Progress for Oct 5, 2015...
Fiction = 0 words
Blog = 540 words
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