Writing again.
I'm writing again and that's a wonderful thing but at the same time, I find myself doing the same old thing. Start a new story, get 1000 to 3000 words down, then stop. The story just sits around and never gets touched again. Except when I open the file every few months and toy with a paragraph or two. I have a story called Skin that's almost ten thousand words and hell, I've never even tried to rewrite it, about the most I've done is spellcheck it. It's a good story, too. I think so anyway. It's finished as far as content goes but not finished as far as rewriting and actually finishing a product to submit is my problem.
That's what separates me from published authors and what separates me from people more successful but less talented. I'm not that prolific. I want to be, and if starting a story made one prolific, I'd be prolific, but it doesn't and I'm not.
What I would like to do is finish some of what I've started writing and do more editing on stuff that I've finished but have abandoned. There's nothing quite as exciting as moving something from my generic "stories" folder to the "finished" folder. I've got several things I'm working on and just can't going on them. I want to, and with more time I could, but then I already work only three days a week and most of that time at work could be spend editing. I mean, I've probably spent a couple of hundred hours--yes, you read that correctly, a couple of hundred hours--online reading about guns and gun-related issues. While I think it's important to educate yourself, it has also been a great waste of time. I could have been writing. At work, if my bosses ever found out how much time I've spent online, I'd get fired. There have been days--none recently but back two years ago--when I would finish my work by 11pm and then sit online until 6am...that's seven hours, folks. That's a lot of time that I could have been writing or editing.
Granted, it's hard to originate text with people next to you, moving around and occassionally making mundane comments and it's even a lot harder when they are saying things you're interested in. But there were nights when I would put four to six thousand words in my journal and although a story would have been harder to write and only given me a third that much output, it would have been work. Instead, I have mindless journaling, a broad knowledge-base on all things related to concealed-carry and the Second Amendment.
In fact, if you look at this blog entry, you have to ask yourself what I'm saying here that I haven't said before, either in the blog or in my journal. Very little, except that I'm happy to be writing again and feel good about what I've written, especially this new story that's ready to go out. I have four out right now, making the rounds, and this will be #5. Now, I also have one that I don't know where to send it because it's erotic but not erotica and it's horror but not blood and guts or even psychological...it's about losing everything in your life because of addiction and that's horrible but it's also not enough horror to get it in any horror magazines. Oh, well, I guess I can always hope someone will eventually buy it.
Gotta go because I'm tired and have bills to pay.
Jb
That's what separates me from published authors and what separates me from people more successful but less talented. I'm not that prolific. I want to be, and if starting a story made one prolific, I'd be prolific, but it doesn't and I'm not.
What I would like to do is finish some of what I've started writing and do more editing on stuff that I've finished but have abandoned. There's nothing quite as exciting as moving something from my generic "stories" folder to the "finished" folder. I've got several things I'm working on and just can't going on them. I want to, and with more time I could, but then I already work only three days a week and most of that time at work could be spend editing. I mean, I've probably spent a couple of hundred hours--yes, you read that correctly, a couple of hundred hours--online reading about guns and gun-related issues. While I think it's important to educate yourself, it has also been a great waste of time. I could have been writing. At work, if my bosses ever found out how much time I've spent online, I'd get fired. There have been days--none recently but back two years ago--when I would finish my work by 11pm and then sit online until 6am...that's seven hours, folks. That's a lot of time that I could have been writing or editing.
Granted, it's hard to originate text with people next to you, moving around and occassionally making mundane comments and it's even a lot harder when they are saying things you're interested in. But there were nights when I would put four to six thousand words in my journal and although a story would have been harder to write and only given me a third that much output, it would have been work. Instead, I have mindless journaling, a broad knowledge-base on all things related to concealed-carry and the Second Amendment.
In fact, if you look at this blog entry, you have to ask yourself what I'm saying here that I haven't said before, either in the blog or in my journal. Very little, except that I'm happy to be writing again and feel good about what I've written, especially this new story that's ready to go out. I have four out right now, making the rounds, and this will be #5. Now, I also have one that I don't know where to send it because it's erotic but not erotica and it's horror but not blood and guts or even psychological...it's about losing everything in your life because of addiction and that's horrible but it's also not enough horror to get it in any horror magazines. Oh, well, I guess I can always hope someone will eventually buy it.
Gotta go because I'm tired and have bills to pay.
Jb
posted by benaires at 8/02/2005 10:49:00 AM
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