Last Day of Dreaming

This is my last day of thinking, wishing, dreaming. This is my last day of being lazy, uninspired, unmotivated. This is my last day of procrastinating, my last day of being a sissy.

Tomorrow I start. I realize that I set an artificial deadline that may be too long, but it may be too short. I won't know until I start working on my story. But, tomorrow I start.

I've also decided not to think of my project as a "novel" or a "book," but a story. I still have several ideas swarming my brain and more scribbled on paper. I need to select one and run with it. If I don't, I'll have several false starts and nothing to show for them. I know which idea I'm running with, I just hope I can keep up and don't give up.

Several realizations about writing have led me to this blog and my project. Some I figured out on my own, others I learned from people who do this for a living.

1. A story is for others, not the writer.
2. A story never told is a story never told.
3. Nothing is perfect from the start. Nothing is likely to be perfect, ever.
4. You can't finish something you never start.
5. You can't complete a journey if you keep revisiting the same spots.
6. You can't go anywhere if you are too afraid of anything.

Kinda cryptic, but these are some of the ideas I've struggled with and will continue to do so. But, I'm going to work through the self-imposed obstacles, get off my butt and not be a sissy. Tomorrow I start with the goal of reaching the finish line.

Update to the Writer's Library

Seeing as this blog is as much a record of what I do for anyone who wishes to follow my journey as it is a record of what I do for myself, here is the update for my collection of writing references.

1. The Writer's Handbook, 1998 edition (It's old and out of date as that's when I thought I could get serious about the writing thing.... it only took 10 years)
2. Non-Fiction Writer's Guide: A writer's resource to firearms and ammunition
3. The New Well-Tempered Sentence by Karen Elizabeth Gordon
4. The Deluxe Transitive Vampire by Karen Elizabeth Gordon
5. The Art of Fiction by John Gardner
6. Science Fiction Handbook, Revised by L.Sprague de Camp and Catherine Crook de Camp
7. Woe is I by Patricia T. O'Conner
8. Burning Down The House: Essays on Fiction by Charles Baxter (signed by the author)

I may have one or two others lying around somewhere, but this is what I have at home at my disposal. I don't know if I'll read them all, just look through a few or start wistfully at them while trying to will my novel into existence. But, I've got them.

If anyone has a recommendation for other important books about writing, let me know. I don't think anyone will be reading this blog for a while, but I'll ask anyway.

Scott

Keeping Pace

Well, it's day four. I guess I can keep up the pace. I'll admit, I'm not planning on blogging every day, but if I can get something written and posted, I'll be happy.

It may not be much each day I do post, but it will be at least an update on my writing.

As a follow-up to yesterday, I did find the rest of my books on writing, but I didn't have a chance to list them today. Maybe I'll double post and list them tonight, but sometime this week for sure.

I also went through the majority of the notebooks I have scribbled in over the past few years tearing out pages and collecting my ideas. Now, I've got to go through the pages and transcribe them all into one location. I will be keeping up with the travelling notebook idea and write all that comes to mind in one place.

Knowing my own track record, I'm not sure how long this will all last. But, I'm still up for the challenge.

The Streak Continues

Butter me up, I'm on a roll! Three days in a row I've posted. There may not be much substance in many of these posts, or even all of them, but I'm going to be as consistent as possible.

If nothing else, I feel I succeed by typing up some post with something. And, if I include an update to what I do regarding my story idea, then it's better yet.

So, what did I do between posts? I cleaned a major portion of my basement and dug out some books I have on writing. I've read a few, but only glance through the others. What I plan to do with these books is go through them all quickly cover-to-cover and try to absorb as much as I can. I own them so I can refer back to them at anytime. They are "reference" books after all.

So, these are the books I have so far:

1. The Weekend Novelist by Robert J. Ray
2. Making Shapely Fiction by Jerome Stern
3. If You Can Talk, You Can Write by Joel Saltzman
4. How to Write Tales of Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction ed. by J.N. Williamson
5. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing a Novel by Tom Monteleone (signed by the author!)

I know I have a few others, but I haven't found them yet. I've got a lot of books all over the place. Some I would highly recommend, others not-so-much.

Maybe on one of these posts, I'll go through my favorite books and a list of books I feel are important to read. But, for the most part, this will just be a rambling chronicle of my attempt to write a story. Novel idea, eh?

Progress is Good

Already I've written twice as much on this blog as I did on the last. At least in the number of posts. I must be getting serious with this whole thing.

Anyway, I've been giving it more thought and needed to create a plan or schedule and stick to it. So, as a start, and this is likely to change, here's my initial plan.

1. Create outline of story starting August 1st and finish by end of month.
2. Work through research materials when not actually writing anything down.
3. Flesh out background information on settings and characters during September.
4. Start writing first draft beginning October 1st.
5. Write as time permits until first draft is done.

I think this is a good start and something I will commit to. I will not be a sissy and give in to my dark, procrastinating, excuse-making side. At least once I finish reading Harry Potter 7.

Step One: My New Mantra

This is the start of my blog. Wow. Nothing fancy, nothing important. Just my thoughts about the writing process as I go through it.

For years (and I mean YEARS), I've always thought of how cool it would be to write a story and get it published. I've seen many books make it to print that weren't worthy of the pulp and ink, so I figure I could do it. Never had exposure to the publishing process until I met a writer who finally got a shot. Based on his experiences, I know that it's going to be a bitch to get in print. But, I've never actually written anything that could go anywhere. I've thought about it (more like fantasized) but never followed through. Ideas come and go, wistful dreams of seeing my name in print right along with them.

But, I've had a few ideas that, with a lot of effort, could be good ones. Some of them I've discussed with friends or family that would be kind and gentle with criticism. Most, I've kept locked away in my brain never to be shared. This is a bad, bad thing to do. Stories are meant to be shared. If they are good stories, then maybe someone who can make money off them will print it to reach a larger audience. This is common sense, but I've got to write it down so I can believe it. Again, stories are meant to be shared.

In order to share the stories they have to be written. And that is the main crux of my problem. I don't write. I think. I dream. I sketch. I plot. I don't write. I do make excuses. I do work out plot holes. I do procrastinate. I do not write. Until now. Sort of.

I did write a story about 3 years ago and started a blog about that same time. But, in the three years since I had one single post in my blog and my story still sits without revision or polish. So I am restarting my blog and I intend to start writing my story. And this is why:

I am not a sissy!

It started after a book launch party and involved two friends of the writer and a shot-and-a-half of Grappa. One friend (sorry, didn't get all the names... but I'm sure I'll be editing this some day.) was handed a full shot of Grappa and was given the instructions to "be sure to shoot it." The other friend came over and had a half shot of the Grappa. Apparently, he'd been sipping it, contrary to the given instructions. Friend One tells Friend Two to "shoot it with her." He politely declined. Friend One then tells Friend Two, "I've got a full shot, your's is only half. Don't be a sissy!"

Later, a call for pizza orders was made to the group. Friend One speaks up and says "Everything on everything. You can just pick the stuff you don't like off." I then piped up, "Yeah. Just pick it off. Don't be a sissy!" Well, it may be a location joke, but I thought the whole thing was hilarious. We all laughed a bit about the whole thing.

Still chuckling later, with some more introductions and other alcoholic sampling, I told some of the new friends about my story idea which I'm going to start and is the basis of this blog. I explained that I think I've got some good ideas, but just never seem to get to the process of writing the stories. What did I hear next? "Don't be a sissy! Just write."

So, here I am. Writing. Again, nothing fancy. Nothing great. But, writing nonetheless.

Welcome to my blog. Welcome to my journey. Maybe this will progress beyond this post. I hope it will.

Thanks,

Scott