I'm now about a month into my career as a reporter.
As of right now, I'm not sure whether I liked it or watching Enemy of the State on nitrous oxide while having a wisdom tooth pulled and going to work on heavy drugs with gauze in my mouth better. Though I suspect the wisdom tooth thing, because at least then I had drugs.
I think it boils down to me having a different idea of "student life" than asking a bunch of college students where they plan to get drunk on Super Bowl Sunday. It's not something I really care to write about, but at least I'm getting decent practice at writing to a specific form and meeting deadlines and being underpaid.
The one other benefit is that I actually managed to secure an interview with Lawrence Block, tying in with the release of the new Matthew Scudder book... which, despite there being 16 of them, the new one will only be my second. Still, Block's got such a natural touch at dialogue, and it's remarkable how different Scudder and Bernie Rhodenbarr(one of my favorite characters) are in their narration and outlooks on life. And both are perfectly natural.
In the book I'm reading right now, Eight Million Ways to Die, there's a brilliant chapter where Block is able to write an incredible account of Scudder's descent back into alcoholism, and it just works so incredibly well. Block's work usually inspires me and, at the same time, makes me realize I can never write anything that good.
Frighteningly enough, I think it's inspiring me to try my hand at writing a mystery, too. That should come off as... very, very painful, I imagine.
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Solitare
A friend asked recently if I could suggest one thing to improve writing productivity. Off-hand, I joked, "Delete all the games off your computer. Especially Solitare!"
Hmmm.
Lawrence Block talked about Solitare and his tendency to play when he should have been working in Spider, Spin Me a Web. Ultimately, he came to the conclusion that perhaps his mind needed the break. And, after flippantly dismissing any value to keeping the game on the computer, I thought about how Solitare actually helps me as a writer.
For example, I often play a game or two before I start my writing for the day, particularly when I'm working early in the morning. If I'm ever blocked on a particular segment of the book, I have a tendency to click open and play through a few times. I used to think I did this to procrastinate, but in thinking back on it, the story flows better that way. The Solitare is almost like a cup of coffee for the brain, and my production is better than when I start cold and write a bunch of junk that will have to be edited out later. And when I'm blocked on how to handle a particular scene, playing Solitare seems to straighten things out.
Like almost anything in writing, your mileage may vary. But it seems to me every writer needs their little warm-up exercise. I know writers who do a free write before tackling the daily work, others who read their previous day's work and revise, and others who do a physical activity, like jogging, before they start. I get the feeling this sort of work is critical, not just because you get a chance to mentally prepare, but it also helps set the routine. If you have something to reinforce sitting in front of the computer, doing the daily word count, it's worth it.
And I figure I'll bore my minimal audience here with an update: The book is 66,800 words in. With classes starting this week, I haven't been able to get much done(Chemistry is threatening to make my head go Scanners, already), but hopefully I'll be able to use story segments for work in my Fiction class. And am I ever glad I took it... if it had been all science this semester, I might go insane.
Hmmm.
Lawrence Block talked about Solitare and his tendency to play when he should have been working in Spider, Spin Me a Web. Ultimately, he came to the conclusion that perhaps his mind needed the break. And, after flippantly dismissing any value to keeping the game on the computer, I thought about how Solitare actually helps me as a writer.
For example, I often play a game or two before I start my writing for the day, particularly when I'm working early in the morning. If I'm ever blocked on a particular segment of the book, I have a tendency to click open and play through a few times. I used to think I did this to procrastinate, but in thinking back on it, the story flows better that way. The Solitare is almost like a cup of coffee for the brain, and my production is better than when I start cold and write a bunch of junk that will have to be edited out later. And when I'm blocked on how to handle a particular scene, playing Solitare seems to straighten things out.
Like almost anything in writing, your mileage may vary. But it seems to me every writer needs their little warm-up exercise. I know writers who do a free write before tackling the daily work, others who read their previous day's work and revise, and others who do a physical activity, like jogging, before they start. I get the feeling this sort of work is critical, not just because you get a chance to mentally prepare, but it also helps set the routine. If you have something to reinforce sitting in front of the computer, doing the daily word count, it's worth it.
And I figure I'll bore my minimal audience here with an update: The book is 66,800 words in. With classes starting this week, I haven't been able to get much done(Chemistry is threatening to make my head go Scanners, already), but hopefully I'll be able to use story segments for work in my Fiction class. And am I ever glad I took it... if it had been all science this semester, I might go insane.
Monday, January 17, 2005
Opening Thoughts
For whoever has found this journal for whatever reason, welcome.
As my writing career is actually beginning to resemble an actual career and not some fevered delusion of my mind, I decided to create a journal where I could share my thoughts about the process, rant about the incredible difficulty of the writing life, and basically have a writing oriented spot to talk about everything I'm working on.
A first thought for anyone who might be considering writing a novel, but find themselves intimidated or discouraged: Go to the nearest book store, find the section your book would be placed in, and scour the shelves until you find the two authors you'd be situated between. After years of "Oh, I'm going to write a novel," I did just that today, and there's something about making that commitment, about saying, this is where my book will go, that motivates you like nothing else.
Fourteen chapters to go before the first draft is done, and it's flowing like crazy right now. As for the journalism, my first ever article was the lead story in the Life section, and I got some nice compliments from my fellow staffers. While journalism certainly isn't my love in life, it's nice to have a paying writing job.
As my writing career is actually beginning to resemble an actual career and not some fevered delusion of my mind, I decided to create a journal where I could share my thoughts about the process, rant about the incredible difficulty of the writing life, and basically have a writing oriented spot to talk about everything I'm working on.
A first thought for anyone who might be considering writing a novel, but find themselves intimidated or discouraged: Go to the nearest book store, find the section your book would be placed in, and scour the shelves until you find the two authors you'd be situated between. After years of "Oh, I'm going to write a novel," I did just that today, and there's something about making that commitment, about saying, this is where my book will go, that motivates you like nothing else.
Fourteen chapters to go before the first draft is done, and it's flowing like crazy right now. As for the journalism, my first ever article was the lead story in the Life section, and I got some nice compliments from my fellow staffers. While journalism certainly isn't my love in life, it's nice to have a paying writing job.
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