Writer's Update

     I don’t like using the words always or never unless I really mean it. So when I say I am always anxious about writing a blog after knocking one out of the park, I mean always. Last week’s blog was not only well received, but I was pleased with it. So as the week went by following the post of The Sad Balloon I did what I normally do after a successful blog post. Fret.

     Prajna offered up some good suggestions. She never tells me what to write, but has told me in the past some good directions to take my blog. Also a few times, she has advised me what not to write. She suggested that I write a topic earlier in the week and spend the week revising it. My blog is supposed to be a writing exercise. It’s a way that I make sure I write at least once a week. Most weeks I write at least four days. That includes my blog that I post on Mondays. Prajna thought I could compose something on the day that I usually do, but then spend the week revising it and post it a week later after polishing it.

     That’s not a bad idea at all. I have the habit of writing pretty well established. This blog isn’t as much about that anymore. If I want to really grow as a writer, I am going to have to work more on the process of revision. First drafts are allowed to be lousy. The technical work begins when that first draft is done and it’s time to go in and start trimming the deadweight away. I could turn my blog into an exercise in revision, not just writing.

     One problem with that is that I like the topic to be fresh. I try to write what I’m thinking about. If I compose a blog on a Sunday afternoon and then work on it for a week before posting it, I may not feel like saying that anymore. I don’t like just writing random things. I want to say what’s going on in my life as currently as possible.

And the other thing is this: Roadwalker is a side project right now. I don’t think I want to spend the week working on it. The main thing that I’m working on is a memoir. I write about 3 days a week on it. Lately I have been writing in baby steps. It’s been tough going. Things didn’t get better after I bought that balloon, they got worse.

So I am directing my time to another project right now. In a couple weeks I am going to take a weekend away, a sabbatical, to be off by myself. I plan to spend some of the time at my campground outlining the novel I want to write this November.

Then during the month of November I will be writing an entire novel for National Novel Writing Month. The novel is going to be a space western called Sidewinder. I have some characters in my head as well as a solid setting and a very vague plot. There is little else I look forward to as much as this.

But in November I will be writing seven days a week. I’m not sure what will happen with my blog. I might post excerpts, I don’t know yet.

There are 563 words before this sentence. I had planned on writing this morning about how much I liked my job. I was going to say how when I fret about what to write, very little beats operating a vacuum cleaner and spending a day alone listening to music and audiobooks. But then I just went on and on about my writing. And here it is. Not what I intended, just me talking about myself. And it will be time for me to start breakfast soon.

I will be breaking eggs into a big bowl. Some eggs are resilient and take a good strike and the yolks are still intact. Other eggs almost disintegrate in my hand and the yolk breaks, sometimes with shell fragments. Sometimes I can just tell that something will come out good when broken out of its shell or just be a mess. Eggs are like blog topics. Sometimes they make me smile with satisfaction and sometimes I sigh with disappointment and try to fish out the shells. But I like them  to be fresh. Maybe ideas should age more than an egg should and my analogy is beginning to crack.