Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Productivity Rules!
I paid special attention to the bus on the journey into work this morning, unusual perhaps but I like to flex my "third eye" continually. Trying to see everything differently has given me new perspectives on even the most basic things and sprung up a few ideas into the bargain. That's the main reason I carry a notebook with me wherever I go. You just never know when you are going to come up with a story idea, new character, or even a single, killer line of dialogue. I drafted a poem late last night - called Frustrating Facilitators - based on my experience with Lothian Buses yesterday, and reviewed it a few times this morning at work, before posting it to my favourite forum.
Work was dire. The only productivity of note was the previous poem, and some notes and plot development for my novel. I suppose this makes me a paid writer in a kind of round about way, seeing as I am doing nothing else during the days except work on my writing. It gets difficult though, hiding what you are doing, the constant covering up of my notebook, or flicking of the screen away from Internet Explorer. I'm not the only one in this predicament, and it won't continue. It can't continue. Soon I will be forced to turn my hand back to what I am meant to be doing here, but the truth is, everyone is so zombified in here no-one notices.
The Fringe appears to have got off to a good start despite the atrocious weather over the past couple of days, and so has my detox diet. I'm forcing all the toxins and poisons out of my body in an attempt to purify myself and lose a couple of inches while I'm at it. The headache kicked in at about 3pm as I felt the last drop of caffeine I consumed yesterday drip out my system.
Tonight, I redrafted a short story entitle A Bond Of Faith. It's a good story but I have approached it in a different way to anything I have done before. It was a hard one to work out initially in my head, but once I got it into perspective it came out on paper easily the first time. There were some tense problems but I think I managed to clear most of them away. I might post it to my forum - first prose post from me for a while - and try to get some feedback.
I also complete two poems and may submit one of them for publication. I wrote to Pudding House regarding a poem I would also like to submit to them but not sure if they will accept it unless it is via snail-mail. Not the easiest given they are US based - I can only ask though.
I completed another chapter of my novel, which I reckon is now about 60% complete. I stuttered in the middle as I had a serious POV crisis. A book I read recently brought it all about and I suddenly wondered if it would be better told in first person. I started to revise it and was several pages in when I realised it wouldn't be better after all. All it needed was to iron out some plot crinkles, and loan behold, it started flowing again. In fact, I even came up with a different end to the story, which gives it a much greater twist, and also leaves it open should I wish to develop it into a sequel. I would like to do this, because one if the characters in particular, while only a supporting character, has developed totally on his own. He is very intriguing and deep, and I feel like I want to give him something in his own right. He has his own story to tell that it isn't being told in the current one.
All very exciting, and all in all, a good evening writing.
Work was dire. The only productivity of note was the previous poem, and some notes and plot development for my novel. I suppose this makes me a paid writer in a kind of round about way, seeing as I am doing nothing else during the days except work on my writing. It gets difficult though, hiding what you are doing, the constant covering up of my notebook, or flicking of the screen away from Internet Explorer. I'm not the only one in this predicament, and it won't continue. It can't continue. Soon I will be forced to turn my hand back to what I am meant to be doing here, but the truth is, everyone is so zombified in here no-one notices.
The Fringe appears to have got off to a good start despite the atrocious weather over the past couple of days, and so has my detox diet. I'm forcing all the toxins and poisons out of my body in an attempt to purify myself and lose a couple of inches while I'm at it. The headache kicked in at about 3pm as I felt the last drop of caffeine I consumed yesterday drip out my system.
Tonight, I redrafted a short story entitle A Bond Of Faith. It's a good story but I have approached it in a different way to anything I have done before. It was a hard one to work out initially in my head, but once I got it into perspective it came out on paper easily the first time. There were some tense problems but I think I managed to clear most of them away. I might post it to my forum - first prose post from me for a while - and try to get some feedback.
I also complete two poems and may submit one of them for publication. I wrote to Pudding House regarding a poem I would also like to submit to them but not sure if they will accept it unless it is via snail-mail. Not the easiest given they are US based - I can only ask though.
I completed another chapter of my novel, which I reckon is now about 60% complete. I stuttered in the middle as I had a serious POV crisis. A book I read recently brought it all about and I suddenly wondered if it would be better told in first person. I started to revise it and was several pages in when I realised it wouldn't be better after all. All it needed was to iron out some plot crinkles, and loan behold, it started flowing again. In fact, I even came up with a different end to the story, which gives it a much greater twist, and also leaves it open should I wish to develop it into a sequel. I would like to do this, because one if the characters in particular, while only a supporting character, has developed totally on his own. He is very intriguing and deep, and I feel like I want to give him something in his own right. He has his own story to tell that it isn't being told in the current one.
All very exciting, and all in all, a good evening writing.
Colin 10:09 pm