Wednesday, May 14, 2008
A VERY Productive Night!
I'm going to guess that my subconscious felt guilty last night about not working on the Main Book the night before. I sat down at the kitchen table at ten last night to write for maybe an hour-and-a -half or two hours. At some point I must have stopped paying attention to my pre-written page numbers in the corner of my notebook because when I put down my pen to stretch out the cramps in my hand, I noticed that the page number was significantly higher than expected. Nearly 90 pages higher than expected, in fact. That's when I realized it was awfully bright outside. It was 6:30 am, and I had been writing nonstop for about eight-and-a-half hours. The good news was that I had written about 90 pages of the Main Book (which translates to about 45 typed pages). The bad news was that it was time to get ready for work. So, here I am, exhausted at work and staying late to make up some sick time from last week. But the pages are done.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
An "Unproductive" Night
Well, I can't really call last night unproductive, since I wrote nearly five pages after watching my one episode of Lost. That can be really tough for me, by the way. I've got the DVDs sitting on top of my player right now, and the temptation to go ahead and watch "just one more" is pretty strong. Especially when a show ends on a cliffhanger. It's the same problem I had with Battlestar Galactica. I re-watched season 1 and the first half of season 2 and watched the second half of season 2 and all of season 3 for the first time over the course of a couple of weeks just before season 4 premiered. Back on topic.
I can't really call last night unproductive, since I wrote nearly five pages. Unfortunately, it was of the wrong thing. I'm making a concerted effort this summer to finish writing a single book. I've never been able to do this. I start writing something, then get distracted by another story idea and move on to that, leaving the first story incomplete. I've got dozens of story beginnings rattling around my condo. Last night, I started work on a movie script instead. Not the one I was working on already, mind you. This is a different script. So while I wasn't unproductive, I wasn't productive in the right way. Tonight I'm staying late at work to make up for some sick leave so I won't be able to work on the Main Book again. To quote StarGate, "I'm never getting paid."
I can't really call last night unproductive, since I wrote nearly five pages. Unfortunately, it was of the wrong thing. I'm making a concerted effort this summer to finish writing a single book. I've never been able to do this. I start writing something, then get distracted by another story idea and move on to that, leaving the first story incomplete. I've got dozens of story beginnings rattling around my condo. Last night, I started work on a movie script instead. Not the one I was working on already, mind you. This is a different script. So while I wasn't unproductive, I wasn't productive in the right way. Tonight I'm staying late at work to make up for some sick leave so I won't be able to work on the Main Book again. To quote StarGate, "I'm never getting paid."
Monday, May 12, 2008
Absence
July 17. Auntie Maggie's Birthday.
Ok, its really only May 12th, but you can't go wrong with a Red Dwarf joke. I have a perfectly good reason for not posting here for six days that can be summed up in two words: Charter Sucks. I've spent the better part of the last two months with spotty or non-existent internet with them telling me (through phone and service visits) that it had to be on my end since they showed a great connection on theirs. They even replaced my modem at one point. Anyway, after two months and two service calls, I've got my computer back in pristine condition. It was 78% empty, had an 8% fragmentation, and was running Warcraft III at a blazing speed. The only problem was that I still didn't have internet. Long story short, I finally got my hands on a working laptop and hooked it up to the modem, expecting to be able to use the internet for my usual tasks other than World of Warcraft, which stinks on the laptop. Instead, the same thing happened! Blazing speeds for two minutes, followed by five minutes of slow speeds, followed by the world blowing up. Well, followed by the complete loss of the internet, which amounts to the same thing. So... it's them. Charter is no more! I've canceled it and signed up for BellSouth DSL, which will hopefully work. I keep getting the feeling that I'm that guy at the end of the bad "Fun with Dick and Jane" remake, though. You know, the one who leaves the scandal plagued company for an exciting new position at Enron? We'll see how BellSouth does....
This should have made my home a distraction free environment for the last two weeks, giving me ample writing time. Yeah, right. Between family staying over Friday night at my condo and the cleaning time that demands, staying over Saturday night at my grandmother's house to celebrate Mother's Day, and my newfound appreciation of Lost, I've only gotten 10 pages written in the last week. I did manage to write down plot ideas for a half-dozen other books that I've been thinking about, though, so that's something at least. I'm going to see if I can do more this week, and I'll keep you updated through the internet at work.
Ok, its really only May 12th, but you can't go wrong with a Red Dwarf joke. I have a perfectly good reason for not posting here for six days that can be summed up in two words: Charter Sucks. I've spent the better part of the last two months with spotty or non-existent internet with them telling me (through phone and service visits) that it had to be on my end since they showed a great connection on theirs. They even replaced my modem at one point. Anyway, after two months and two service calls, I've got my computer back in pristine condition. It was 78% empty, had an 8% fragmentation, and was running Warcraft III at a blazing speed. The only problem was that I still didn't have internet. Long story short, I finally got my hands on a working laptop and hooked it up to the modem, expecting to be able to use the internet for my usual tasks other than World of Warcraft, which stinks on the laptop. Instead, the same thing happened! Blazing speeds for two minutes, followed by five minutes of slow speeds, followed by the world blowing up. Well, followed by the complete loss of the internet, which amounts to the same thing. So... it's them. Charter is no more! I've canceled it and signed up for BellSouth DSL, which will hopefully work. I keep getting the feeling that I'm that guy at the end of the bad "Fun with Dick and Jane" remake, though. You know, the one who leaves the scandal plagued company for an exciting new position at Enron? We'll see how BellSouth does....
This should have made my home a distraction free environment for the last two weeks, giving me ample writing time. Yeah, right. Between family staying over Friday night at my condo and the cleaning time that demands, staying over Saturday night at my grandmother's house to celebrate Mother's Day, and my newfound appreciation of Lost, I've only gotten 10 pages written in the last week. I did manage to write down plot ideas for a half-dozen other books that I've been thinking about, though, so that's something at least. I'm going to see if I can do more this week, and I'll keep you updated through the internet at work.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Introduction
Hello. I am the Writer's Blockhead and this is my online journal.
There, that's done. That's always the hardest part of writing for me, you see. The opening sentences. I never know what to write, but once that's out of the way, the words flow easily. And occasionally floridly, apparently.
Who am I? I am the Writer's Blockhead, an aspiring writer who is halfway through his first book. I have decided that this summer is going to be a summer of change for me. I've got a number of goals that I want to meet by the end of the summer, including :
1) Finish my book.
2) Get into shape.
3) Finish my screenplay.
So why the blog? It's a handy place to record my efforts, thoughts, and achievements through this summer and beyond. As I work my way towards my goals, I'll post my successes and failures here, mainly as a record for myself, but also for any who might be interested.
There, that's done. That's always the hardest part of writing for me, you see. The opening sentences. I never know what to write, but once that's out of the way, the words flow easily. And occasionally floridly, apparently.
Who am I? I am the Writer's Blockhead, an aspiring writer who is halfway through his first book. I have decided that this summer is going to be a summer of change for me. I've got a number of goals that I want to meet by the end of the summer, including :
1) Finish my book.
2) Get into shape.
3) Finish my screenplay.
So why the blog? It's a handy place to record my efforts, thoughts, and achievements through this summer and beyond. As I work my way towards my goals, I'll post my successes and failures here, mainly as a record for myself, but also for any who might be interested.
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