NaNo block

[vaneramos]

[Poll #861403]

Last night's writing was horrendous, and my plans went askew. I arrived downtown to discover the -bar occupied for a film festival. I figured the Penny Whistle would be similarly devoted, and my hip was too sore for hobbling around the streets in search of another friendly work area. So I picked up Mary Brown's chicken and came home. I chained myself mentally to the desk for two hours, but it was awful. Bored with the material, feeling no sense of direction, I resorted to free writing, and even that felt agonizingly uninspired. I have posted it privately in blind_king because I don't want anyone else to read it. It doesn't develop the narrative anyway.

At least I cranked out another 1,950 words, so didn't fall further behind. The free writing actually produced interesting passages that have little to do with Ripples. Much goes on in the back rooms of the mind, the parts not involved in struggling and protesting. This could give rise to poetry or even seed some further scenes in the novel. This is part of the creative process. This is why we writers do masochistic things like NaNoWriMo. But I hope things get better, because I refuse to slog this way for the rest of the month. Hopefully today's session with machineplay will turn things around.

I want to mention how much I enjoyed Friday evening getting to know themacbear's and gr8grizz' new husbands, veganbear1970 and modern_mark. Once past Jeff's superficial resemblance to dakoopst, I discovered a fully enjoyable person in his own right. We share the creative impulse and discussed doing something collaborative in future. Jeff and Mark also seem to share my taste in music, and we spent some enjoyable time geeking out over songwriters.

From Rockwood yesterday, fire and water.

Comments

[winterknight.livejournal.com]

things will get better. :) fear not. i hate those grinding moments but in a way, they're starting to appeal because they inevitably (for me) lead to outbursts of blissful productivity. like the moment of pulling those little dinky cars back before letting them go. :p

i'm going to be working on the characterizations and timeline for LV (as with a child's memories of something, the temporal aspect of my first draft is a little knotted) so that i can move onward unfettered. i was hoping to write (oh, freud, how you taunt me -- i've been spelling that 'writhe' lately) 4k this morning but sleeping in and a raging headache have confounded me. i think instead that i will drop all expectation for the day and do preparatory work instead .

and perhaps, some baking, if i am so moved. i shall see how my headache holds out.

[quirkstreet.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry about your writing woes. I recall those. They're different when having musical trouble, but similar.

Your second picture is SOOO eerie for me. I had an extended dream late this early morning about crawling around various rock outcrops near Niagara Falls by which it was possible to get to and fro safe spots and scenic outlooks without getting into the dangerous currents, and finding myself unexpectedly trapped and having to do scary/difficult climbing so as not to have to get into the rapids and really swim for it too close to the falls. Alan said it was clearly an intense dream, I was tapping my foot against his for several minutes. It had a mingled sense of joy and terror. Perhaps it was a delayed reaction to the rafting trip for Sean's birthday last summer.

[bearfinch.livejournal.com]

On a somewhat u-nrealted topic, did you see my post on friday about the group of dead waxwings I found?

[devin101.livejournal.com]

I would love to join that group! This is my first year doing nano, and it's kicking me in the shins, but it is so much fun.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I'll give the free writing one more try today and see what happens. The escape factor could be worthwhile, if I'm able to put myself in that headspace. ;-)

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Funny how friends cross psychic wires on LJ sometimes.

Charles Baxter suggests writers are more inclined toward fears of inadequacy that creators of music or visual art, because "almost every goddamn moron can write prose." He calls this Imposter Syndrome. I'm sure it applies to writing lyrics, too.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Yes, that was alarming.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Cool! I hope you enjoy it. :-)