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With coffee and writing implements at hand, I can determine the shape of today. |
| I tend to write in the morning. After morning coffee and writing comes whatever the day holds...work, more writing, family time, reading, maybe even some gaming. It just depends...but writing first, always. And once I start writing, I get an idea not only of what I'm writing about, but how the rest of my day will go. Hence, the shape of today. |
| Okay, WDC, here I am, updating my blog! My "off" weekend has me considering a couple of the contests here at WDC for the month of August. I definitely want to enter one, and I just found another with an intriguing prompt. If all goes well, I might enter both. It'll be good for me in a number of ways. On another writing front, the tet has begun making noises about the annual Halloween story. I threw my hat into the ring (not going to get back into NaNoWriMo until I figure out what's going on over there), but I really hope we don't go all over the place like we have in the past. Witches, fairies, demons, elves, serial killers...you don't need all that in any one story. But I don't want to say anything, because they're also looking for someone to oversee the thing and I don't want that responsibility. Mayhap I can drop a gentle hint that narrowing the focus is the key to a great story. We shall see. Who knows, maybe I can draw some inspiration from my perusings here at WDC. Well, I need a mundane chore or three to tackle while my brain goes to work on my tale. And it just so happens that the house is in desperate need of cleaning. Time to get serious. As my muse is fond of saying...ALLONS-Y!!! |
| Well. I ambled over to the NaNoWriMo site this morning to find its forums completely shut down...it appears some restructuring is in progress. The site itself appears fine; my unnamed DW fanfic project is still sitting right there. I'm not quite sure what happened or whether it would affect the event in November, so for now I'll just leave things as they are. And how are things? Well, I'm putting together a story for a competition here on WDC...I've an idea that seems quite enjoyable and will make for a fun story. And I am doubling down on my reading, something I've been neglecting. While working my way through You Like it Darker, sai King's latest short fiction collection, I've been trying to pay attention to why his tales work so well. Well, apart from his decades of experience, of course. I have to keep asking myself "Why do I like this? Why do I not like that?" Reading is a learning process as well as recreation. I also plan to get more proactive about inviting people here. The site owners are wonderful and generous people, and the community itself is top-notch when it comes to encouragement. If something has gone wildly sideways over at NaNoWriMo, writers in training are going to need a home. What better than this one? |
| For whatever strange reason, it's quiet today. It's my Thursday off, and we have a holiday weekend incoming. School wrapped up yesterday about midday, and I figured the highway would be a solid stream of cars full of families heading off on vacation, but so far it's markedly quiet. I can actually hear the birds singing, I'm glad to say. It's a nice change. When we moved here 36 years ago, there would be long stretches through the middle of the day when nothing moved on the road...people were at work, school, whatever. One could actually walk down the middle of the highway for a time, and hear approaching vehicles in plenty of time to get safely out of the way. Nowadays, I don't even like going to the mailbox. The "growth" I hear being touted by so many is coming at a heavy price, and few realize it. For the moment, however, there's no noise...just a happy bird singing in a tree near my open window. Both of us are going to enjoy this moment for all it's worth. |
| I spent a little time yesterday responding to reviews a few other WDC veterans have left on various items I'd written during my previous active period...and reading these pieces again for the first time has been an eye opener. Probably the most telling was the "Dear Me" entry from January of '21, which provides a snapshot I no longer remember clearly. It was during Dad's last illness, probably that period when I was driving him to Gainesville for iron infusions and having to get help from passerby to get him in and out of the car. He kept insisting he was strong enough to do it himself, and he never was. Yeah. It was a bad time. Writing was my own strength during that period, though I stopped when things began to deteriorate in February of that year. There really wasn't time at that point. Now that I have time and structure in my life again, it's interesting to go back and see where my mind was. It'll help me to plot a path into the future. |
| I mentioned my NaNoWriMo idea on Gallifrey Base, a Whovian forum I frequent. Immediately another member began encouraging me to write a scene or some dialogue to get the juices flowing. So I suppose I'd better update Scrivener (it's uniquely suited to this) and get started. I'd be lying if I said I weren't intimidated a little. Starting to write seriously again is one thing, but with a fanfic? Uncharted territory for me. I never gave much thought to personifying my muse, but here we are. It turns out he's a Scottish actor and says I should play with his most famous character to rebuild my writing fire: I've also seen him be a lover, a supervillain, a spy, a brooding, amoral murderer, and a duck. For this, however, his eccentric alien hero will do. As another character in that universe told him: "You watch us run!" |
| Update my blog, WDC? Okay, quickly, because I've got a lot to do today. Recently rebooted my account, and also pinned the NaNoWriMo site back to my main taskbar. Suffice it to say I've got an idea percolating. But if it's going to work I've got to get back into the habit of writing daily, and here is as good a place as any to begin. So I'll try to hop into a few contests here, do some reviewing when time permits, and see if I can get that muse of mine coaxed into action. It shouldn't take much to get him started. Now, let me see if I can get myself started... |
| I have always shied away from fanfiction. It never felt right to play with someone else's characters, in someone else's setting, without the knowledge and permission of that someone. As kids we're taught not to raid some other kid's toy chest, after all. However, this morning I was browsing a Doctor Who forum and found a thread on writing. I think there may be a whole section on that particular forum devoted to the craft, but writing's been on my brain of late after an extended dormant period. This is because yet another forum I'm a member of has coaxed me into participating in its annual Halloween story, and since I'm doing a readers' advisory display for work in October it seemed natural enough. Click. I've been dormant for the last couple of years, yes. My life's undergone some pretty radical changes, and writing fell by the wayside. But this morning it suddenly occurred to me...how would it be if I did a DW fanfic for this year's NaNoWriMo? It wouldn't be something intended for publication, but intended to jump-start my writing brain and get me back into the groove? I checked the NaNoWriMo forums and yes, lots of people do fanfics for the annual writing challenge. Click. I've had an idea for a DW story in the back of my mind for a while, mostly because it's something I haven't seen in the Gen Two era at all, and if it exists in the Gen One era I haven't run across it yet. I imagine it does exist out there somewhere, possibly in the Big Finish archives, almost certainly in the uncountable number of fanfic stories. What better way for a fan to celebrate the show's 60th anniversary, than to create a story about it? Click. And because it's going to be my story, I'm going to bring my Doctor over here to America, something he never did during his tenure on the show. I think I'll also bring along my favorite of his companions, for exposition and also because someone's got to help me keep him in line. What the hell...I think I'll just land the TARDIS right here in Georgia. Click. Maybe it's time to stop being such a snob about fanfic. These toys cannot be broken--generations of writers, directors, producers and actors can attest to that--and they are unlike any in the world. I'll play with them for a bit, and hopefully they'll help me find my way back to the world I need to be in. Click. |
| (Written offline, during one of my increasingly frequent internet outages. No matter. I’ll upload it when online again.) Boy, that’s a fancy-sounding name, isn’t it? Sounds like one of those Amish romances (“Bonnet rippers”, I call them) that are so popular with certain library patrons. But it reflects on a conversation I was having with a family member yesterday morning. Like yesterday, it promises to be warm and pleasant, a welcome break from the chilly rainy days we’ve had this winter. Not to mention those bright and clear but bitterly cold days, when the wind makes your eyes water. I know it’s only the beginning of March and there’s still cold weather ahead, but I’ll take this little bit of relief while I can. It’s going to be a beautiful day and with the internet out until possibly this evening, I have no excuse not to be productive here around the house. There’s plenty that was left undone while I was babying my ankle over the winter. As I was telling my aunt, you can tell by the quality of the sunlight when the day is going to be a lovely one. It takes on a golden sheen that begins as soon as the sun clears the horizon and seems to cry, “Come outside! Come outside!” And I will heed that invitation, hopefully I can open the windows again as I did yesterday and let some of the fresh air in. Even the cat was frolicking on the porch more than usual when I fed him before dawn. I have done very little writing during the winter…the aforementioned ankle issue kept me in the recliner when not working, trying to get over the slow-healing wound that’s plagued me now for months. Been doing plenty of reading, however, which is the second-most important activity for a writer-to-be. Much of the reading has been revisiting Stephen King’s “Dark Tower” series, along with books and stories attached to it. With a very few exceptions I’ve read all of this material before, multiple times in some cases. Others, like Insomnia, are only my second read. And in the case of Insomnia, likely to be the last for the foreseeable future–how sai King kept from putting himself to sleep while writing that one, I’ll never know. The newscasts of these days are filled with words I haven’t heard in decades. “Nuclear”. “Alert”. “Radiation”. I will forgo all the politics and long-winded posturing because there’s plenty engaged in that, and many of them don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. I’ll just go on hoping that the crisis will pass eventually, and go away along with the murdering bastard that initiated it. And if not…well, we all will be tested. I should probably discuss this in a seperate blog post; I’ve rambled on long enough for now. That golden early morning sunlight is shifting into bright early spring daylight, and the clock is ticking. Time to get busy. |
| Last night, before bed, I found myself watching an old episode of The Joy of Painting. I haven't done painting of any kind since my grade school days, but like so many, I am delighted by Bob Ross' gentle form of mesmerism. He was painting a scene with a little old house or barn, surrounded by great evergreens, in the wild at sunrise or sunset. Since the episode had been about halfway over by the time I tuned in, I'm not sure of the time of day he was depicting, but it was lovely. The sky flowed from peach-pink to orange on the horizon, and you could tell old Sol was just beyond. Then, Ross added his evergreen trees and truly transformed the scene. The colors of the horizon, already beautiful, took on a magical vitality that had me looking for the golden edge of the sun. It wasn't in his painting, but this new depth had me believing it would be there. And even the house or barn, a structure he clearly stated was very old and showing its age, became so vivid I imagined it creaking in the wind that swept over this scene. All because the artist added a few evergreen trees. It occurred to me that much of our world's great art is great for that same reason. The words on the page, the paint on the canvas, the notes in the song...all of them resonate with us because the key elements are all there. The character in the story may be courageous, but it is the legendary foe that she/he confronts that makes that courage shine. The melody of the song is enchanting, but the pace set by the rhythm section is what keeps it playing in one's head all day, making a workday more enjoyable. And the sunset in the painting is pretty, but the deep green of the painted treeline makes it pure enchantment. This lesson is something I need to bear in mind the next time I'm struggling with a piece of writing. If it seems incomplete, it probably is. There's another piece of the puzzle that I need to find and put into position. |
| "Update your blog", WDC keeps urging me. Okay, here it is, Christmas morning, and I'm updating my blog. Christmas is going to be different for me going forward, to be sure. This is the second year in a row I didn't put up a tree...something I'd been doing faithfully every year since Mom died. Last year I was simply too preoccupied and exhausted to be interested, and I think on some level I sensed Dad's situation was growing steadily graver. This year I simply didn't have the heart for it, and dealing with my own health issues takes up most of my spare time, including the time i should be spending writing. By this time next year, I'm hoping to have a better handle on things. I'll have the tree up and be able to enjoy those old but well-loved ornaments of Mom's. And Dad, for all his grumbling, enjoyed the tree too before he got too ill to enjoy much of anything. I remember he was a bit scandalized that first year after we lost Mom...he thought, as we were still in mourning, that the tree was not quite appropriate. However, I argued that Mom would have wanted us to have the tree and all the joy that went with it. So yes...these last couple of years have been sorrowful and difficult, but in time a Christmas tree will return to House Tanith. In time. So am I skipping Christmas? No. I've a rather simple but tasty carrot dish I'm going to put together in a little while to bring up to the family meal at my cousin's, which I still think of as "Grandma's". I learned over Thanksgiving that fattening casseroles are not the best bet for this, because several family members have food allergies or special diets or weird diet ideas, and I end up bringing said fattening casserole back home and eating it myself. Not something I need to be doing. Too much eating of the wrong things has played a role in this very tiresome situation with my ankle, and I need to reverse the trend. One of the themes of Christmas is peace, so I spent a delightful time on the porch just as day was breaking partaking of some peace. For once, there wasn't a lot of traffic swarming off to work, school, and shopping. It's a rare enough thing around here, so when it comes my way I make sure to enjoy it. Here is a Christmas wish for peace. For all of us. |
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