Tag Archives: writing

Opening up my Limbo File

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I hate getting stuck, which is where I’m at on a project at the moment. It’s so frustrating but I felt I had no choice but to set it aside for a while. It’s now in the limbo where I consign half-written projects.

While I was in the limbo department, I decided to check out something I began writing back in the summer of 2012, and Young Adult book about a former Angel of Death who is now trying to bring about the end of the world, and the girl who stands in his way. It’s always a girl, isn’t it?

I opened it up and began reading from the beginning, and I like what I have so far. What sucks is that it ends mid-sentence, and now I have no choice but to finish writing the damned book so that I’ll know what happens. It’s actually okay with me. I had always intended to come back to this piece eventually, and apparently eventually has now arrived.

I like the general tone of the book. It’s not too dark, nor is it too saccharine. It begins after the death of my main character’s seemingly neglectful mother and my m.c.’s reunion with a father she hadn’t seen in six years. Understandingly, there’s some bitterness about the separation, but she soon discovers the truth behind her parents divorce and the estrangement it produced.

Where it goes from there is still uncertain, which is why I stopped writing in the first place, but I have a few ideas that I’m entertaining. I would like to write this as a series, and I have a few ideas about what I want in the third book, a look into her mother’s decision to divorce her father, and the last moment of her life, when she gave up her will to live, and surrendered to Death’s embrace.

Maybe it’s a little to heavy for a Young Adult books series, but I don’t think so. I hope that I succeed in writing about the power of love and the need to accept death as a continuation, and not an end. We’ll see.

Nowing hour

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I woke up this morning to see a friend of mine make a reference to Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky. Naturally I reread the poem, and one thing led to another, whereupon I came across this website for archaic words. I started playing around, writing my own poem as a writing exercise. I’m not really a poet, and I’m not even sure this makes any sense, but if it doesn’t I’ll claim poetic license. Enjoy!

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Nowing hour

I began one stagnant eve
upon the threshold between yore and nowing hour
where I stood a waffling man
shifting amongst wants with mask aglower.
Inly I began to sweven
whenas slumber I forsook
the nowing hour nigh upon me come
wist ruth, desire aflamed in my coeur.

Afore decisions be made
a rede I hight hither now
of yore I shan’t return
of morrow erelong I must embrace.
Verily, the path long sought
peradventure must be trod
afore the threshold between yore and nowing hour
breaks, erelong shackled I be made.

My other short stories

Maybe I’m to blame….

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I find myself with plenty of free time to do some quality writing today. It’s sad that I don’t often have it, and when I do, I don’t always take advantage of it. I doubt I’m the only would-be novelist guilty of such a sin, but I can’t speak for the others. Today I confess my own failings as a writer.

Writing is such a chore, and because it is, I tend to put it off. You’ll rarely catch me writing in the morning, if ever. I do my best in the afternoon, or even later. When I get in my rhythm, it’s not unusual to be past midnight, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, holding exhaustion at bay.

My job does not give me a set schedule so that I can get into a routine. That’s what I need. We all love routines, though we may complain about it from time to time. Our bodies want to go to bed at a set time, get up at a set time, eat and conduct our lives at a set time. Granted, we don’t want to get into so set a routine that we fall into a rut. We demand routine and some flexibility to make life interesting.

So, I’m justifying my failure. It’s not my fault. The “Man” is keeping me from pursuing my dream. It’s better to blame my failure on someone else than to look in the mirror and realize it’s my own fault. Not going to happen. It’s the Man!

Excuses only absolve me so much, or maybe not at all. I’ve let myself get distracted by too many things. Success demands so much out of us, that most of us give up without realizing we have until it’s too late. Sometimes we never come to terms with the idea that we ceased pursuing our goals. “There’s always tomorrow, after all!”

Enough dawdling. I need to shut everything out for a while and let myself find my flow and let the words flow out of me. As Ernest Hemingway once said,

“There is nothing to writing.
All you do is sit at a typewriter and bleed.”

With all due respect to Mr. Hemingway, I’m all out of typewriters, so I hope my laptop will suffice. Also, while I’m thinking about it, I may need to contact the blood bank, you know, just in case. I’m O-Positive for future reference. Something tells me that I won’t need them.

Checking in for the thrill of it

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Book review is done and I will post it tomorrow at noon. For now, I have no other books in the queue, waiting to be read and reviewed. It’s an odd feeling, both sad and a relief. Next up, I can start reading Divergent. The box set is sitting on my desk, begging to be read. Who am I to ignore the pleas of a book?

Right now, I’m going to get back to work on one of my books I’m writing. At the moment, I have some sense of where I want to go, so I’d better write while the writing is good. I hope that makes sense. To put it another way, I need to write while I feel inspired to do so. Some days, it’s a struggle to write my own name, but you know what that’s like, right?

Better get to work, so for now, good night and sweet dreams. Don’t forget to check back tomorrow.

What am I giving up for lent? No one likes a quitter!

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So today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of lent. Lent is a period of penance, of fasting, prayer, and an evaluation of one’s faith leading up to the biggest feast on the Christian calendar, Easter Sunday. Traditionally, Catholics and many other Christians give up something as a sacrificial offering.

So I’ll make do without sodas, but saying goodbye to my Dr Pepper will be difficult, Also sweets are a no-no, as is meat on Ash Wednesday and Fridays throughout the Lenten season. I might cheat on the sweets part since sometimes I need the sugar from a candy bar when I’m feeling weak. Should see a doctor about that one of these days.

There’s something else I want to do. Why should it be all about quitting something? I want to focus again on my writing like I had been. Not only on my blog, which I plan on setting up a schedule again, this time twice a week, but also on my book, which has lingered in limbo for far too long. Two thousand words a day is my goal starting today.

I also received some edits that I need to look through, which I will once they are all back. Then I may take a break again from writing and delve into editing again, but I have no time table set on that yet. I’ll let you know when I know something.

So I will start my day of penance and fasting. No meat for me, but that won’t be too hard. I can have fish and veggies. I’m not as picky as I used to be, and I’m rededicating myself to my writing, again.

Maybe it’s not exactly what the season is meant for, but I’m only a mortal. I do what I can with what I given. Regardless, this will be a sacrifice and one that I’ll do gladly. Well, not giving up my Dr Pepper. That really is a sacrifice. Pray for me!