Actually, if we're talking about my baby boy, he can--at least better than we expected. He just got his first tooth a couple days ago, and that day was the first time we really suspected it. He's normally a fairly cheerful little guy, and so after a day of his being crabby and clingy, we decided to check his gums. Ouch! Poor little guy.
Things are not quite so bad at work now. I've started to settle into my new digs and have started being productive. Being productive helps a lot. I kinda like it.
Beyond that I've been knee-deep in a personal project. I've been writing a novel. It's fan fiction for a wargame I play, and I've been posting it in chapters on an online fan bulletin board. It's not terribly large, perhaps 50,000 words by the time I'm done with it, which according to this source makes it pushing the upper limit of a novella.
I haven't written a novel in about 15 years, so it feels good to crank out something that significant. And I've got at least two fans who loyally read each installment. I know that doesn't sound like much, but it's really made a difference. This bulletin board has a "hit" counter that lets you know how many times a post has been read. My readership has been falling off fairly steadily since I first started posting it, but these two not only always come back but regularly leave me comments. At this point I'd have to say I'm going to finish this as much for them as for me.
Another encouraging aspect of this work is that I have a desire to go back and rework it once I'm done. I usually finish something (if even that) and immediately abandon it. My previous novel I have intended to rework, but only after rereading it after a year or two and realizing it was pretty weak. This one I can already see where it can be made better, where it should be expanded, and how my writing style could be improved.
Right now the main pressure is to finish it. Once it's done I intend to leave it for awhile so it can become fresh again and I can become a little less attached. Then I plan to come back to it and rework it. After all, Robert Louis Stevenson once said that writing is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. I don't sweat enough for my art.
After that I've got another project simmering on the back burner. This one should be my first serious attempt at LDS historical fiction (two categories I've never tackled before). The last time I read through the Book of Mormon I became very impressed with King Limhi, the son of a wicked king who in spite of his father's example, remains relatively righteous and eventually becomes the spiritual leader of his people as well. There's a story there, and I'm itching to tell it.
Hold me to it, folks. If I don't have at least a full draft by the end of 2006 give me heaps of grief.
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1 comment:
You've got it! Don't make me come over there! Just do it.
Glad to hear you're writing again.
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