I assume my place upon the virtual soapbox, and I complain, without planning, without organization. Please feel free to do the same.
I've gained a new refrain over the last couple months: "Some days are easier than others." I don't think it's a good sign that, though today's writing was without question easier than most, it was in an entirely worthless direction, and for it my book has lost its momentum, which has so far been its pretty much only redeeming factor. If mistakes are best when they're biggest, then I win: I thought it'd be fun and that perhaps it might open some new and exciting doors to add some fantasy to an otherwise mainstream thriller. I don't know.... I don't think it's working. Maybe with revision. Maybe. But isn't revision, even it's very mention--at least inasmuch as it equals stopping, even temporarily, midstream (like stopping to pee on roller coaster) impossible--or at least against the very spirit of the month--especially if I plan to finish in time? I don't know (another recently-made near-constant refrain). Well, if it is, I AM GOING AGAINST. I'm sorry (to whom?), but I just can't let myself keep going for paragraphs and pages and chapters on end (heaven forbid) if I've diverged from and whatever I want this book to become (which destination I'm not all that sure of, which lack alone could be good, could be bad, and I do know basically where I want it to go plot-wise, but this fantasy element ... well, I don't know what it's going to do in the long run if not function as just anti-deus ex machina (it's a hellish little beasty, my fantastic element)). So I'm confused, a little lost, I want my momentum back, so I'm not aiming for progress tonight; I'm editing. Sue me.
Okay, I'm done whining for now. Mostly, at least. Just a few more words before I turn the time to you:
Other than my complaints, my first fourteen thousand words have gone fairly smoothly. I see the novel finishing somewhere around fifty or sixty thousand altogether. Of course, I have to step it up a little if I'm going to finish in time, but there it is. I can do it. I am, once again, optimistic.
I do have one last concern, inevitably to come off as moaning: I DON'T WANT TO WRITE JUST ANOTHER THRILLER; I WANT IT TO BE NEW AND DIFFERENT AND FRESH, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO TO DO IT. Okay. That's it. The box is yours.
Feel free to complain to your heart's content. This is your box. This is your virtual receptacle for your cathartic, lexical expectorations.
Umm... hmm...
ReplyDeleteFirst, the website's been running better other than Day 1 for me. I think a lot of people have fallen off the wagon and been even more hopelessly left behind than I have. It's not like a speedy website by any means, but I've at least been able to use it. Maybe my infamous Internet connection from Hell is finally having its moment in the sun.
I don't think revising is a bad idea. If you really want this to be a good novel, I don't see how it's possible without a little tinkering every now and then when something isn't working.
Anyway, I'm enjoying this, even though I'm never going to finish on time, but I knew that at the start. Thanks for telling me about it.
Maybe my school has some glitch. Everything else there is lightning fast. (Did you read Johnson today?)
ReplyDeleteI did. Very good stuff as always. Why do you ask?
ReplyDeleteJust enjoyed it. I think people who either gripe about the difficulty of or laud English as unique in the world are full of crap, because they can never intelligently justify their positions. This man says it straight, says it clearly. This one was validation.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's funny because I used to think English was a difficult language because everyone said so. Then I took Spanish and I thought that was a bit harder. Then I took German and realized, "People are idiots if they think English is hard." And yeah, I like English, but the two reasons that it is so popular are the Royal Navy and the American economy. Johnson's exactly right about that. I really can't choose between the 3 languages that I "speak" (or try to, to get back to the article the other day) because I love them all, but I certainly don't think English is indisputably the best in any regard. Also, people, and I'm among them, rail about the abuse of the English language, but really, that's not unique either. Spoken German is killing an entire case (genitive) right now. It's horrible. Say what you want about the way people speak English, but at least they haven't done that; then again, there's significantly less grammar to kill in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI've always loved the debate between the grammarians and the linguists. The prior fight for the maintenance of a language in its current or recently passed state, and the linguists relish in the changes and adaptations. As tenses and attributions and cases go by the wayside, new ones crop up, and once they've been around long enough, they're even accepted as standard. I honestly don't think there's any one language richer or more complex or more difficult than any other. Regarding the latter, certain languages are more difficult for certain speakers (supposedly, Finnish and Navajo are the most difficult for English speakers to learn) than others, depending on the historical roots that connect them or prevent connection. Language is so awesome if for nothing else it is such a living, breathing thing. I think that's one of the reasons I enjoy Eco so much lately. He makes language itself a set piece and a character; what other writers manage with the land of their story, he manages with the language.
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