Musings of a Hopeful Author

There are no words to describe my absolute lack of progress these last few months.  I have done NO writing of any consequence.  It's depressing and a bit embarrassing.  I thought I had more followthrough than what I have been displaying thus far with my writing.  I have started dozens of stories, with varying degrees of plot complexity, but have only finished one book length story in what is ... wow... a decade of writing off and on in my spare time. I know it is no consolation, but I am on track, and even a little ahead of schedule, to meet my reading goal for the year.  I've read 31 books as of today out of the 50 I set as a goal.  I am beginning to see that I need to set hard deadlines for myself with regards to writing rather than the fluid "write when you are in the mood" style I have been adhering to up to now.  I am going to have to do some research to see what is a reasonable daily/weekly/monthly goal.  If I am going to formalize this wh...

Okay, so maybe I was a bit too enthusiastic in my last post, but do not think that I am not still writing, albeit slower than intended.  I blame work and vacation!  Work has been a little more all intensive in the last few weeks than it usually is, so that has taken considerably more time than anticipated.  Fortunately, my job is generally pretty good about its work life balance, this just happens to be one of those times when it tends more towards work than life. No excuses though!  I have dropped the proverbial ball, and owe myself several written pages.  Fortunately, I have thought through some of the sticking points I had with some parts of the story, so at least that is progress, right?  I am deciding to believe it is. Though it's a small thing to anyone who might read a book, naming the characters is something that can be difficult.  The names have got to have the right balance for the story that is going to be told about the characters they ...

Yes, that's right!  I've actually started making progress on my angel story!  How much progress you say?  Well, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.  Let's just be glad there are words on the page in actual chapter form rather than outline form. So what happens so far in the story?  Well, you get a glimpse into the history of a few of the characters.  It's sort of an important chapter in that it sets the stage for everything to come in the story.      Apart from meeting some of the characters, you also get a small glimpse into the world in which the characters live.  Their way of life, their homes, their relationships, and what drives them, even if they don't fully realize it themselves.  That's the intent at least. Do you think you'll be able to get all of those things from a scene that takes place around a school yard in a small town? I hope that you will feel at least some of that if I ever get far enough with the bo...

So, I know it's been a while since I last posted, and I have nothing but excuses for why it's been so long.  I can make a nice list citing things like family visiting from out of town, my dog getting sick, deadlines at work, etc., but in the end I just didn't know what to write about for a while there.  I mean, I could have said something , right?  Well, here's that something! I have been making progress with my angel story, though obviously not as much as I would have liked at this point (but can you ever really make enough progress??  unless you can declare that you are FINISHED, I think the answer is no).  Some of the finer points of the overall story and the pacing, etc. are still being worked out in my mind and on paper, but I came up with what I think is a pretty awesome twist for the story.  I will not go into details, because I want to see if you will be as surprised as I hope you will be while also still feeling like you should have/could have se...

After last week's rather knee-jerk reaction to the news that I would not be advancing to the next round, I had some time to get over the disappointment...  And got feedback from the judge of my section about what I did well and what I could improve on.  I am happy to report that overall, the judge enjoyed the story and thought I did a good job painting a creepy and mysterious backdrop (for those of you that don't know, I wrote about a boy and his family walking home from the New Year's Eve Fireworks in the town square.  On their walk home, they pass by the burned out ruins of an old prison, and stop to recount its history and ultimate destruction by fire...).  I also got bonus points for my use of mixing dream with reality while having "the ghost" just use phrases the boy's father had used in describing the fire at the prison earlier in the evening.  Add to that some rather unexpected twists and turns, and the judge was a fan of the overall story.  So ...

Aw man!  After weeks of trying to reign in my hopes and aspirations for this short story contest, I finally get the results, and realize I was wise to reign in my hopes and aspirations.  I didn't make it into the Top 5 for my heat.  How disappointing!  Though not completely unexpected, if I have to be honest.  For one thing, I've written a grand total of 3 short stories in my adult life.  Each one was better than the previous one, but there's definitely some room for improvement if I am only at number 3 on the list of completed/attempted.  All three have been driven by my trying to enter some type of competition.  I obviously need to "train in the off season" to make sure I make the roster in the future, otherwise I might need to give up my dreams of the Major Leagues.  Another reason why I wasn't overly surprised with the result is the fact that I couldn't have been assigned a harder topic for me to have to write about.  I don't do scar...

So, it is March 17 (better known as St. Patrick's Day to most), and it is snowing in Virginia. It has been snowing throughout the night, so there are now inches of snow upon the ground. Words cannot describe my lack of enthusiasm as I look out of the window at what one could only describe as a "Winter Wonderland," and yet, I am over it. I am over the snow. I always wanted to have more of it as a child growing up in Georgia, but now I feel that I am all caught up on those past wishes. It has snowed enough. Let's move on to Spring and flowers (even though that brings pollen and allergies), I believe it's time to transition. That said, snow does provide the perfect opportunity to sit inside and think,read, and write. I have been doing a little of the first, a lot of the second, and not quite enough of the third. I've definitely learned some things through this latest read of mine. There was quite a hullabaloo regarding the fall of certain angels....