01/3
The short story I mentioned is finally underway. The ideas haven’t gelled yet, but I’ve got an idea for structure, and I can write little bits that fill in the story. I’m going to have to rape this thing with the red ink when I’m done getting all the pieces down, and I’ll restructure it and patch up the holes before I workshop it, so that at least it’ll be a readable piece.
Speaking of workshopping, I think I need to find some local SF writers to work with. Yeah.
01/2
Well, it’s 2008. This August, it’ll have been a decade since I left Mankato State University with a B.A. in English (Creative Writing), and I figured it’s high time I got something published. So my 2008 resolutions included writing a new short story every month (and getting it in circulation), and getting the novel I’ve started completed by the end of the year. Both fairly realistic goals.
12/18
On the writing front, I seem to have lost momentum via the day lost to the dead logic board in my Mac Mini. That’s kinda sucky, but I’m going to force myself to sit in front of the ‘ol text editing program for an hour tomorrow — either I’ll write, or I’ll waste an hour. One or the other.
On the bike side of things, Zipp finally got my wheels back to me. Only one minor issue — a dust seal on the cassette hub body was folded over onto itself, exposing the internals — and I was able to correct that in less than five minutes with a pair of 5mm allen wrenches and a dental pick. Tonight, I’m going to scrub the cassette clean before I re-install it, and get everything back on the Salsa. It looks awfully sad, hanging in the living room with no wheels.
12/15
So minor items of import:
1. Yesterday, the logic board in my G4 Mac Mini decided it was time to shit the bed, and die. So today, my unemployed ass went out and bought a new Core 2 Duo Mac Mini, with an assist from mom, who called it my Xmas present. Thanks, mom! (And fortunately, I was able to recover the start of the novel I began earlier in the week!)
2. We’re in the clean-up phase of remodeling the shop I work at, and my lungs are full of dust. It’s pretty awesome when it hurts to breathe.
12/14
Started digging in to the novel I’ve had in my brain for awhile, and damn if I’m not having fun. Lately, it’s been tough to write. Everything I start, I hate — usually I feel like it seems somewhat contrived. Not today! Today, I enjoyed it. And even looking back on it, I’m not cringing or feeling stupid.
So I think I might be on to something here. No title yet, but off to a solid start of 672 words. I’m trying to not push myself too hard right out of the gate. I want to ramp to 1000 words per day as soon as possible, and then start pushing to do 2000 words per day.
Dan Bailey