Well, after last week’s wild churn of words, this week has been (perhaps not unpredictably) less…churn-y.
What did I work on this week?
Took three days to hit my 2k/wk requirement on the novel, and honestly, I’m not sold on some of the scenes I laid down. They feel watery and cheap. You know the feeling. But they’ll get there. One is actually pretty solid, and two just need…something. Time, probably.
Then for Thursday/Friday, I plunged into the rewriting of a fantasy short story I wrote years ago, but have never submitted. I still really like it at its core, but after all the book-learning’ I’ve been doing about plot and tension and dynamic story structure, I’m running up hard against that “conscious incompetence” thing. I know at least a lot of what isn’t working, but not enough to know how to fix it.
Well, I have some ideas. It’s just going to mean a complete rewrite. (*sobs*) So I’m going through the original draft, painstakingly tightening all the overwriting and trying to massage a better plot into it. It’s…not super fun. So I’m trying to keep my chin up and not get discouraged.
This year (and the previous one!) has been shockingly tough on short fiction for me. Finding both the headspace and the quiet time to make progress with both kiddos (one of whom was born in 2020) at home has been a challenge, to say the very least. My brain’s engine is revving and roaring, ready to blast off, and it feels sometimes like I’ve forgotten to take the parking brake off.
Classes have helped me focus, and I feel like I’ve learned a lot, I’m just chaffing to put what I’ve learned into practice. I’m working on patience. Lots of patience….
What’s inspiring me this week?
Nothing. (#grumpus)
No, that’s not true. This week, I finished Story Engineering by Larry Brooks, and my head is exploding with ideas for how to fix a number of weaker (unsubmitted) short stories. Finding time to do so–well, that’s another question entirely. But the ideas are there, and I think they make the stories a LOT more functional. (It puts the “fun” in “functional”! XD)
I’m also getting the start-the-garden itch. I’ve never been particularly good at gardening, but now that we actually have some yard and garden space, I’m getting kind of excited to plan out something REALLY easy. Don’t know when I’ll get to start making those choices, but maybe this weekend? Maybe? (*whispers* maaaaaybe….?)
I’m also getting the make-your-own-clothes itch again, particularly with interest to making a front-buttoning midi-skirt from Wardrobe By Me. Because I have so much time! XD
Oooo, and Goldbug and I watched the Perseverance landing Thursday, so that was fun! It’s kind of nice to focus on something very far from Earth and all its issues…
What am I working on next week?
Umm….writing. (#needanap) Okay, okay, more specifically, I’m chugging along on the same method I’ve been tackling the last two weeks: 2k on the novel first, and then any extra writing time on rewriting that short story step by painstaking step.
I’d also like to finish one more book this week to hit my month’s reading goal (to read more about how to finish more books while poly-reading, I have a post here about that!). I’ve got a couple that are getting close, so I’ll have to look over the weekend and decide what’s going to be the easiest to wrap up.