michaeljasper.net
"Another Wrecked Web Site"
November 29, 2000
Indulge me if you would.
Actually, this whole writing journal of mine is a huge indulgence, not sure why I do it other than it's fun and informs the folks who are interested about the strange manner in which a writer thinks. So, as I said, indulge me as I take a look at where to go next. In my last entry, I went over all I'd done in the past year or so, writing-wise. It was also a busy year with changing jobs, trekking out to LA for a week, getting some stories published, going to my first con, and writing some non-fiction pieces for the local paper and some online 'zines. Hectic, yet satisfying. Now I'm trying to figure out what exactly to do next.
First, I'd really like to finish the first 1/3 of the fantasy novel, Last of the Hand, that I started way back in '92 when I was teaching writing with my junior high classes. I have at least three chapters to write and about twelve to revise heavily. Then I have the next 2/3 to write. But every time I pick it up I feel either overwhelmed or underwhelmed. Not sure why I feel the latter, but the former is just me worrying about getting in over my head again and obsessing over a novel. It's silly, I know, but I've gotta have balance.
The second option has been popping into my head at random points (though mostly when I'm walking the dog -- go figure), and that is totally revising my collaborative horror novel. I'm talking serious cutting and reworking, in a way that focuses on one main character instead of 5 or 6, less point of view switching and much more horrorific scenes. Right now it's just not scary or compelling enough. But I do feel it's a good story, and I really like the idea of friends reuniting and teaming up together after years apart, and I love the idea of a small midwestern town with a dark, evil secret at its core.
The third option is to start something completely new. I have three other ideas for novels, including an expansion of the alien-in-detention-camps stories which could be pretty good. But I can only do so much. I'm afraid the others will have to wait. It's hard prioritizing like this. I want to do them all! But that's completely unrealistic, I know.
Then there's finetuning to do on my first novel, the mainstream The Prodigal Sons, but I'm not ready to be patient and work on that yet.
And lastly, there are a handful of short stories I'd like to write and get out to some publishers. At least two are ready to be written and/or revised, but again, time is a factor.
So... I need to choose. I need to figure out how to best spend my limited time. What I'm hoping to do is to start getting up early at least 3-4 times a week to write before work and on one weekend morning. Ten hours a week would be great, but I'll take 5 hours if I can get them. It's better than what I've done all this month. The last day I did any serious writing was two weeks ago. I'm itching to get something started. I get a bit anxious if I go too long without creating anything. I start to feel like a waste of space.
Here's my ad hoc writing plan:
Sound crazy? Too much? Probably both. But I kind of like the idea of drafting something while I'm revising something else. That way I don't get burned out on one project. I'm leaving the short stories sort of on the back burner for now so I can focus on perfecting my longer works. Maybe if I sell a couple stories to some pro publishers, I'll rethink that, but right now it's been a bit quiet on that front. Ideally, I'd love to have five or six complete novels to go along with my two story collections by 2003 or so. For sure by the time I'm 35. Then maybe I can work on my writing full-time. Maybe. So novels it is.
At least this week...
mjj
----------
November 22, 2000
Happy almost Thanksgiving!
This four-day weekend couldn't have come at a better time. I'm ready to just kick back and enjoy some time off and some quality time with Elizabeth and the family. I've been doing more reading and not worrying so much about my writing projects. I may not get any writing done over the Thanksgiving holiday, sort of bucking the tradition Elizabeth and I have had the past few years of me writing all day Friday after turkey day while she does her Christmas shopping with her mom and sister.
I may write, I may not. We'll see. I've had a relatively productive year so far, and I'm thinking of a short break to recharge my batteries, maybe even until the new year.
How productive have I been, writing-wise? Let's take a quick look at what I've written:
A good chunk of that goes to the horror novel, of course, which was a co-written endeavor, I must remind ya'll. I've also gotten some stories published, a couple of them at pro rates, though I'm still not a SFWA or HWA member yet (you need 3 pro sales for either organization, and I'm 2 short in each). It's been a busy, hectic, productive year. I can't say I have too many regrets, other than getting sort of a big head in the past month or two. From now until the new year, I'm going to try to figure out the best way to focus my energy when it comes to writing, so I don't continue this strange habit of knocking myself out with work. I'm tempted to pick up the horror novel again and see if I can't punch that up and make it better. I can't seem to make much happen with the fantasy novel, though I'd still love to finish that as well. And there's always the ideas about the All-Nations Team and the orphan trains. Some day I'll get to them. For now I just want to have fun, try some new things that aren't directly related to reading or writing (for example, I bought a home-brewing kit to make my own beer, and I'm playing with the idea of teaching myself guitar--don't laugh!) and put all this writing-related madness in perspective for a while. So if you don't see lots of entries in the next few weeks, that's why! mjj
----------
November 20, 2000
Hello. I wanted to change my home page a little bit, as I'm not really in the Dare anymore. Couldn't keep up. But that's fine. I think I'll try it again when I have more energy and desire to complete something. I definitely have lots of ideas. I just don't seem to have the time to think much about them, much less even start them.