Writing Dare 2001, Week 13

michaeljasper.net

"Another Wrecked Web Site"

May 31, 2001

At Dare's End...

Today's Progress:

Nada

The Official Dare Page

After some thought, I've decided to ease up on the writing-every-day-or-else that I've been doing for the past few months and let my mind and body get some rest. So this will be my last entry as part of the Writing Dare I challenged myself to.

I'm very happy I was able to stick with this one better than my first attempt last fall. And I got a ton of stuff done -- totally revised the horror novel, adding new sections to the beginning, and sending that out to 2 publishers; drafting 4 new chapters to the fantasy novel; writing one new story and revising the heck out of 2 others. So I almost accomplished all my goals I set for myself, even if I did cheat and not continue the Dare for another 2 weeks. Three months was enough.

Now I want to figure out what to work on next. I don't know if I'll do some stories, new or revisions, or finish the fantasy novel, or just start out on something completely new.

I have a feeling I'm just gonna take it easy for a week or two before starting something new. Sometimes inspiration can't be forced. And if I'm not having fun, it's not worth it. That's the key.

So check back here every now and then -- I'll still be keeping up my writing journal, though it probably won't be every day. Later.
mjj

May 30, 2001

Two weeks left(?)

Today's Progress:

Edited novel (yesterday, actually)

The Official Dare Page

Yes, I'm a slacker. I didn't do anything that I was planning to do this past weekend, other than do a little editing on the fantasy novel. Guess I'm just catching my breath.

I feel like I should be working on the novel, but I think I lost some enthusiasm for it when the agent sort of disregarded it without really even considering it. I built that one up too much in my mind, really. Ah well. Lesson learned.

I think it's a good, fun idea for a novel -- everyone can do magic, they just have to change their mindset about it -- with some great characters and situations. But part of me seems to want to start something new, like an urban fantasy like Charles de Lint's books. And another part of me feels like I need to write more stories and get them in circulation; I've got 7 stories out right now, and one of them is a 25,000-word novella that has slim chances of getting published due to its length. Speaking of which, I should be hearing from the Stones antho about my story, "Black Angels." That'd be great to sell that one. It's the first story I've written specifically for a particular anthology. It'd be quite awesome to sell it on the first try! I've never done that before.

Doh! There I go, getting my hopes up again... It's best to send stuff out and then forget about them, and work on something new.

My problem is that I can't decide what to work on next! I guess it'll come to me. I just need to get through this week at work -- my deadline is fast approaching, and I'm having to actually WORK at the Day Job. Yuck.

Oh, and I almost forgot! Got my check from Asimov's yesterday! Part of me wanted to frame it, but then reason took over. That was very cool. Now if I could just get my check from a certain other anthology publisher who's already published my story... Hey. I know. I shouldn't complain. Later.
mjj

May 26, 2001

Rain and laptops, phone calls and books

Today's Quotes:

But I made it out, he thought, enjoying the power he felt sitting up high in his Ford Expedition, crawling through eastbound I-40 traffic after work, only seven short miles from home. It was a drive that averaged thirty-five minutes, one way. After escaping the slums of Raleigh, Richard was ecstatic to be able to call himself a resident of Cary.

Today's Progress:

Made notes on horror story

The Official Dare Page

Hey there. I'm enjoying the cool weather on my back porch, laptop in front of me with Pearl Jam playing on the tinny speakers under my typing hands (poor laptop design, I must say -- every time I shift my hands, the guitars and Eddie Vedder's voice fade out). I have a couple projects I want to work on today and the rest of this lovely 3-day weekend, but before I get there I need to clear my head, so I'm writing a bit in here.

Also, I had a good, long chat with my collaborator in crime, Greg, wrapping up our horror novel and talking about movies and our lives and what could be our next project together. We'll see how that goes -- I'm a bit apprehensive, to be honest, just because we both went through some rocky times working together, what with some ego issues for both of us, and the difficulties that come from communication only through e-mail and by phone (he's in Nebraska and I'm here in NC). I haven't committed to anything yet. We've just agreed to throw some ideas back and forth.

I kind of like the direction he's thinking about though. He wants to do a novel that I'd probably call Urban Fantasy, my sub-genre of choice lately. It's pretty wild and out there, but I think together we can probably pull it off -- he's got all the far-fetched ideas, while I have the grounding to keep it all logical (I hope), and it should be more of a true collaboration, so I don't feel like his ghost writer, which I felt like every now and then with Autumn's Fall.

The basic story is about Duran the Druid and his band of misfits of sorts, a bunch of incredibly powerful folks who've been pulled into this world (if I'm remembering correctly!) by a sorceress with evil intent. I won't say much more than that until I know more, but what's got me most excited about this project is the global aspect of it -- we can send these characters all over the world, while our first novel was set solely in the small town of Rosecroft, Nebraska. And it can just be totally out there. I like that.

I feel like once I finish The Last of the Hand, I'll be ready for something totally new. I'm thinking about starting work on a more traditional Urban Fantasy of my own, something along the lines of Charles de Lint, whose Someplace to be Flying I've really, really been enjoying (I'm ready to move to Newford). I have no ideas for that project yet. But I know it'll be fun.

Maybe I'll start with some stories in that Urban Fantasy setting -- I feel like I need to get more stories out in circulation. I want to keep up the momentum from my most recent sales. So that would be a good plan -- do some stories that I could possibly pull together into the starts of a novel. It's always fun having lots of irons in the fire.

Speaking of stories, I got a really nice rejection from the folks at Deathlings.com on my suburbs story. They gave me some excellent suggestions, and if I have time I may try to incorporate all of them and send it back to them before the month is over, if they'll take it a second time. If not, I can send it elsewhere. It's always refreshing to get feedback, especially from a good editor.

So for today and tomorrow and Monday, I want to work on the following: edit the Interlude and chapters 18-20, draft chapters 21-28 if possible; fix up "Visions of Suburban Bliss" and send it out again; and write a rough draft of "Gunning for the Buddha" (is it gonna be sf? urban fantasy? horror? I don't know!). As usual, Iknow I'm expecting too much, but I like to push myself. I've already made some fixes to the suburbs story, and now I plan on getting back into The Last of the Hand and seeing what's up with Archie and his peeps. Later!
mjj

May 24, 2001

Deep Thoughts

The Official Dare Page

"There's no such thing as fiction. If you can imagine something, then it's happened."

-- Annie Blue, a character in Charles de Lint's Someplace to be Flying.

I like that quote, and I like de Lint's novel even better. And I like the irony of a fictional character saying that line. Very clever.

It's true. What we imagine becomes our reality. That's basically the premise of my Buddha story, if I ever figure out where I'm going with that story.

Anyway, just wanted to include that quote. Haven't gotten any writing done, though I did send out "Last of the Hand" one final time, this time to F&SF -- they're one of the few places left where they'll take something 25,000 words. It's a long shot, but I gotta try. And hey, he sends stuff back very fast, which is nice. I got some good feedback from him on my previous story, more comments than he's ever written, so that was nice.

I'm planning on doing more work this weekend. 'Til then, I'll be taking it easy, reading, and getting my act together at the Day Job. Later.
mjj

May 23, 2001

Todays' word is: Lethargy

Today's Progress:

grumble grumble grumble...

The Official Dare Page

Okay, this is getting a bit silly.

I'm sitting here at work, trying to stay awake. I've got a bunch of stuff to do (I have about 150 pages of a manual that's due for review at the end of May), but I just can't seem to motivate myself to get into it. May has been a weird month here at work. Our small group of 3 writers and 1 editor have been sort of drifting -- we're part of a larger, 80-plus person TechPubs group based in San Francisco -- and it's hard to stay on top of things.

I'm worried that I've burned myself out again. I've been getting up at 5 a.m. every weekday for the past 3 months, almost. And I've been sick off and on, I haven't been getting enough exercise or sleep, and I've gotten a bit grumpy the past few weeks. I feel... distracted all the time. What's up with that?

So I'm thinking I may need to lay off the journaling for a while. Get back to basics, and not push myself so hard.

The worst thing about my job is that I sit in front of a monitor all day long. And where am I at 5 a.m.? In front of my monitor at home. I'm way too connected to the computer. Not healthy. I went for a nice jog with Whit the wonder dog this morning, and that really felt good. I imagine I'll be a bit sore tomorrow morning, but I need to keep doing it.

So maybe I'll cut back, try writing in longhand, keeping the computer at home turned off during the week. I can't avoid the computer at work, but I can ease off my usage at home. There goes my productivity, of course, but what other option do I have? Maybe I can get my voice recognition software up and running, so I can let my arms recover. My tendonitis has been acting up again, and I know it's from too much computer time. My setup at work is very un-ergonomic. I've tried changing it up, but I can't stop myself from slouching.

Which leads me to think that maybe I'm in the wrong profession. I've been getting the blues lately from not getting outside and not getting any exercise. I feel trapped in my cube! Not good. I'm not sure what other career I could go into, besides teaching, or road construction, that doesn't involve computer work in some way. Yech. Maybe the switch to writing longhand for MY writing will be sufficient. I'd hate to be looking for work in this crappy economic climate. I just need to improve my attitude about work. No more piddling with my writing while in my cube. Maybe I can read a story online, or revise my writing on my lunch break, but that's gotta be it. I keep telling myself I'll stop doing my work at work, but my mind keeps drifting, especially when I have no deadline staring me in the face! I've gotten slack about my job, I know. Time to refocus.

So I may not be able to post in here every day. I may not be able to write every day. But I'm gonna try my best to keep doing what I love -- writing fiction -- without having it interfere with my Day Job and the rest of my life. Separation of work and joy. It'll be hard at first, but I have to do it for me. Otherwise I'm gonna go crazy! Later...

Home

mjj

	michaeljasper.net *"Another Wrecked Web Site"*
May 31, 2001 At Dare's End... *Today's Progress:* Nada The Official Dare Page	After some thought, I've decided to ease up on the writing-every-day-or-else that I've been doing for the past few months and let my mind and body get some rest. So this will be my last entry as part of the Writing Dare I challenged myself to. I'm very happy I was able to stick with this one better than my first attempt last fall. And I got a ton of stuff done -- totally revised the horror novel, adding new sections to the beginning, and sending that out to 2 publishers; drafting 4 new chapters to the fantasy novel; writing one new story and revising the heck out of 2 others. So I almost accomplished all my goals I set for myself, even if I did cheat and not continue the Dare for another 2 weeks. Three months was enough. Now I want to figure out what to work on next. I don't know if I'll do some stories, new or revisions, or finish the fantasy novel, or just start out on something completely new. I have a feeling I'm just gonna take it easy for a week or two before starting something new. Sometimes inspiration can't be forced. And if I'm not having fun, it's not worth it. That's the key. So check back here every now and then -- I'll still be keeping up my writing journal, though it probably won't be every day. Later. mjj
May 30, 2001 Two weeks left(?) *Today's Progress:* Edited novel (yesterday, actually) The Official Dare Page	Yes, I'm a slacker. I didn't do anything that I was planning to do this past weekend, other than do a little editing on the fantasy novel. Guess I'm just catching my breath. I feel like I should be working on the novel, but I think I lost some enthusiasm for it when the agent sort of disregarded it without really even considering it. I built that one up too much in my mind, really. Ah well. Lesson learned. I think it's a good, fun idea for a novel -- everyone can do magic, they just have to change their mindset about it -- with some great characters and situations. But part of me seems to want to start something new, like an urban fantasy like Charles de Lint's books. And another part of me feels like I need to write more stories and get them in circulation; I've got 7 stories out right now, and one of them is a 25,000-word novella that has slim chances of getting published due to its length. Speaking of which, I should be hearing from the Stones antho about my story, "Black Angels." That'd be great to sell that one. It's the first story I've written specifically for a particular anthology. It'd be quite awesome to sell it on the first try! I've never done that before. Doh! There I go, getting my hopes up again... It's best to send stuff out and then forget about them, and work on something new. My problem is that I can't decide what to work on next! I guess it'll come to me. I just need to get through this week at work -- my deadline is fast approaching, and I'm having to actually WORK at the Day Job. Yuck. Oh, and I almost forgot! Got my check from Asimov's yesterday! Part of me wanted to frame it, but then reason took over. That was very cool. Now if I could just get my check from a certain other anthology publisher who's already published my story... Hey. I know. I shouldn't complain. Later. mjj
May 26, 2001 Rain and laptops, phone calls and books *Today's Quotes:* But I made it out, he thought, enjoying the power he felt sitting up high in his Ford Expedition, crawling through eastbound I-40 traffic after work, only seven short miles from home. It was a drive that averaged thirty-five minutes, one way. After escaping the slums of Raleigh, Richard was ecstatic to be able to call himself a resident of Cary. *Today's Progress:* Made notes on horror story The Official Dare Page	Hey there. I'm enjoying the cool weather on my back porch, laptop in front of me with Pearl Jam playing on the tinny speakers under my typing hands (poor laptop design, I must say -- every time I shift my hands, the guitars and Eddie Vedder's voice fade out). I have a couple projects I want to work on today and the rest of this lovely 3-day weekend, but before I get there I need to clear my head, so I'm writing a bit in here. Also, I had a good, long chat with my collaborator in crime, Greg, wrapping up our horror novel and talking about movies and our lives and what could be our next project together. We'll see how that goes -- I'm a bit apprehensive, to be honest, just because we both went through some rocky times working together, what with some ego issues for both of us, and the difficulties that come from communication only through e-mail and by phone (he's in Nebraska and I'm here in NC). I haven't committed to anything yet. We've just agreed to throw some ideas back and forth. I kind of like the direction he's thinking about though. He wants to do a novel that I'd probably call Urban Fantasy, my sub-genre of choice lately. It's pretty wild and out there, but I think together we can probably pull it off -- he's got all the far-fetched ideas, while I have the grounding to keep it all logical (I hope), and it should be more of a true collaboration, so I don't feel like his ghost writer, which I felt like every now and then with Autumn's Fall. The basic story is about Duran the Druid and his band of misfits of sorts, a bunch of incredibly powerful folks who've been pulled into this world (if I'm remembering correctly!) by a sorceress with evil intent. I won't say much more than that until I know more, but what's got me most excited about this project is the global aspect of it -- we can send these characters all over the world, while our first novel was set solely in the small town of Rosecroft, Nebraska. And it can just be totally out there. I like that. I feel like once I finish The Last of the Hand, I'll be ready for something totally new. I'm thinking about starting work on a more traditional Urban Fantasy of my own, something along the lines of Charles de Lint, whose Someplace to be Flying I've really, really been enjoying (I'm ready to move to Newford). I have no ideas for that project yet. But I know it'll be fun. Maybe I'll start with some stories in that Urban Fantasy setting -- I feel like I need to get more stories out in circulation. I want to keep up the momentum from my most recent sales. So that would be a good plan -- do some stories that I could possibly pull together into the starts of a novel. It's always fun having lots of irons in the fire. Speaking of stories, I got a really nice rejection from the folks at Deathlings.com on my suburbs story. They gave me some excellent suggestions, and if I have time I may try to incorporate all of them and send it back to them before the month is over, if they'll take it a second time. If not, I can send it elsewhere. It's always refreshing to get feedback, especially from a good editor. So for today and tomorrow and Monday, I want to work on the following: edit the Interlude and chapters 18-20, draft chapters 21-28 if possible; fix up "Visions of Suburban Bliss" and send it out again; and write a rough draft of "Gunning for the Buddha" (is it gonna be sf? urban fantasy? horror? I don't know!). As usual, Iknow I'm expecting too much, but I like to push myself. I've already made some fixes to the suburbs story, and now I plan on getting back into The Last of the Hand and seeing what's up with Archie and his peeps. Later! mjj
May 24, 2001 Deep Thoughts The Official Dare Page	"There's no such thing as fiction. If you can imagine something, then it's happened." -- Annie Blue, a character in Charles de Lint's Someplace to be Flying. I like that quote, and I like de Lint's novel even better. And I like the irony of a fictional character saying that line. Very clever. It's true. What we imagine becomes our reality. That's basically the premise of my Buddha story, if I ever figure out where I'm going with that story. Anyway, just wanted to include that quote. Haven't gotten any writing done, though I did send out "Last of the Hand" one final time, this time to F&SF -- they're one of the few places left where they'll take something 25,000 words. It's a long shot, but I gotta try. And hey, he sends stuff back very fast, which is nice. I got some good feedback from him on my previous story, more comments than he's ever written, so that was nice. I'm planning on doing more work this weekend. 'Til then, I'll be taking it easy, reading, and getting my act together at the Day Job. Later. mjj
May 23, 2001 Todays' word is: Lethargy *Today's Progress:* grumble grumble grumble... The Official Dare Page	Okay, this is getting a bit silly. I'm sitting here at work, trying to stay awake. I've got a bunch of stuff to do (I have about 150 pages of a manual that's due for review at the end of May), but I just can't seem to motivate myself to get into it. May has been a weird month here at work. Our small group of 3 writers and 1 editor have been sort of drifting -- we're part of a larger, 80-plus person TechPubs group based in San Francisco -- and it's hard to stay on top of things. I'm worried that I've burned myself out again. I've been getting up at 5 a.m. every weekday for the past 3 months, almost. And I've been sick off and on, I haven't been getting enough exercise or sleep, and I've gotten a bit grumpy the past few weeks. I feel... distracted all the time. What's up with that? So I'm thinking I may need to lay off the journaling for a while. Get back to basics, and not push myself so hard. The worst thing about my job is that I sit in front of a monitor all day long. And where am I at 5 a.m.? In front of my monitor at home. I'm way too connected to the computer. Not healthy. I went for a nice jog with Whit the wonder dog this morning, and that really felt good. I imagine I'll be a bit sore tomorrow morning, but I need to keep doing it. So maybe I'll cut back, try writing in longhand, keeping the computer at home turned off during the week. I can't avoid the computer at work, but I can ease off my usage at home. There goes my productivity, of course, but what other option do I have? Maybe I can get my voice recognition software up and running, so I can let my arms recover. My tendonitis has been acting up again, and I know it's from too much computer time. My setup at work is very un-ergonomic. I've tried changing it up, but I can't stop myself from slouching. Which leads me to think that maybe I'm in the wrong profession. I've been getting the blues lately from not getting outside and not getting any exercise. I feel trapped in my cube! Not good. I'm not sure what other career I could go into, besides teaching, or road construction, that doesn't involve computer work in some way. Yech. Maybe the switch to writing longhand for MY writing will be sufficient. I'd hate to be looking for work in this crappy economic climate. I just need to improve my attitude about work. No more piddling with my writing while in my cube. Maybe I can read a story online, or revise my writing on my lunch break, but that's gotta be it. I keep telling myself I'll stop doing my work at work, but my mind keeps drifting, especially when I have no deadline staring me in the face! I've gotten slack about my job, I know. Time to refocus. So I may not be able to post in here every day. I may not be able to write every day. But I'm gonna try my best to keep doing what I love -- writing fiction -- without having it interfere with my Day Job and the rest of my life. Separation of work and joy. It'll be hard at first, but I have to do it for me. Otherwise I'm gonna go crazy! Later...
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