Last night, I didn't feel like writing. Dead tired. And yet. I made myself do it, and got through the second half of the first chapter, and the entire second chapter. In addition to the feeling of accomplishment, I'm beginning to see a path where dumbing down the novel might make it a better novel. More focused. Leaner.
My Page Up button quit working yesterday. This morning I pried the little plastic key off, blew off a bit of something that had been trapped underneath the key (I'm guessing a Cheetos crumb; I'm a pig). I've been struggling ever since with getting the little plastic key reattached to the keyboard. It is consuming my workday. Your tax dollars at work.
Snail news. Since I last reported on the miraculous reappearance of the snail, it has disappeared and reappeared and disappeared again. And just yesterday, it reappeared yet again! It's back in a jar of moist peat moss and rocks and an errant baseball card. It is no longer named Prince and Princess, however. It is now named Pedro Martinez. After the baseball card.
More Cassini: this picture is of an unnamed moon causing ripples inside Saturn's A ring. A movie is here. Notice there are ripples on either side, traveling in opposite directions. Cool, huh?
10 comments:
I've been trying to "help" Rebecca with JALL and her streamlining and so forth, reading, giving opinions, so forth...I don't think I'm cut out to be an editor, tho. I'm not wild about "fast" and "dumbed down." lol
You use your pg up key? Am I missing out? Hey, I don't even have one. I think I've answered my latter question.
I daren't touch the mystery keys. I don't know what they do. I'm scared of them.
I've got keys with names like S-Abf, Untbr, Einfg, Entf, Alt Gr, etc. but I haven't got any pg up.
€öäß,
gwilym
Cheetos: delicious but malevolent. Kind of like Khan.
"there are ripples on either side, traveling in opposite directions" - kind of like humans. CoOl.
"More focused, leaner" appeals to me a lot.
(The sentences that radiate "author loved writing this," less so.)
Similarly, simpler foods appeal to me, like
a potato in a bowl, with butter and salt.
P.S. I meant to say, simple needn't be "dumb," but you know that.
cheering you on . . . here's to writing when one is too tired!
Irr, editing is nor for the faint of heart. JALL is a good read, isn't it?
Eric, no page up key? How do you, like, page up?
PiR. S-Abf? Untbr? Einfg? Is this typewriter in Wonderland?
Mag: delish, malevolent, and a handy measuring device! It's the swiss army knife of snack food.
Fresca, I am probably being arrogant to call it dumbing down. The nutshell: 11 different narrators, all with varying tenses and POV, trying to make a point about disconnection and the difficulties we have understanding each other. I like the effect; agents find it distracting and unnecessary. So all but 2 voices are being rewritten into 3rd person past tense. It might end up a better book this way.
Thanks Sarah. It's that old Dorothy Parker line about hating writing, but loving having written.
Yes indeedy, I definitely see how having 11 narrators could amply illustrate the difficulties we have understanding each other... [said with a wise knowing nod, one eyebrow raised (though I can't really raise one eyebrow)]
Are you going to post more about the novel? I love reading about people writing--both content and process.
Fresca, I'm a little leery about talking too much about writing. In my NYC days, I met so many people who talked about art all the time, yet rarely made any. So while I'll occasionally speak to the mechanics of it, I prefer to let the writing do the talking, for fear of turning into another one of those folks who sound good at parties, but never actually create anything.
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