Life of the Walking Dead (or at least Walking Ouchie)

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