Baseball, MLB, On Writing, Series Talk, Sports, Writing

Another All-Nighter

One of the reasons I like Six Feet Under is it’s a very informative show and I learn a thing or two from each episode. Often, I’m pausing to look up something that was mentioned in the show so I can find out more about it.

There’s some question about whether there will be an MLB season this year. The league and the players have not reached an agreement.

5:00 AM is an ungodly time, but I refused to surrender. I got 5 pages-861 words into the novel and 5 pages-1,061 words into the story. I’m tired, can’t keep my eyes open and my nerves are shot. Going to bed now.

Misc, On Writing, Writing

Up All Night

I placed an order through DoorDash tonight. I guess there was a problem. The Dasher tried to call me a couple times, but I don’t take phone calls. I have instructions with every order that say “Deaf, please text.” When I didn’t answer the phone after the second call, they canceled the order.

Some people don’t know what the word “deaf” means.

Anyway, I pulled an all-nighter and hammered down 10 pages of fiction, 5 pages-1,174 words to the novel and 5 pages-747 words to the story. I really need to have more days of high production like this. Been havng too many days of low production.

Okay, it’s 6:15 in the morning. Good night. See you tomorrow.

Hockey, Misc, NHL, On Writing, Religion, Series Talk, Sports, Writing

Four Random Things from my Day

1) Next time Christians in my life make a fuss about me drinking, I’m going to remind them of the wedding guests who drunk all the wine, and Jesus turned water into wine so the guests could continue drinking.

2) I’ve been watching Six Feet Under again. The scene where the baby dies in the crib has always been hard for me to sit through. All through the rest of that episode, my heart aches and I get teary-eyed. Rico, a young father, is very convincing in showing how hard it is for a funeral home employee to work with an infant death.

3) The Red Wings did not win today.

4) I wrote 433 words into the novel and 381 words in the story. I wanted to keep going, but I’m really burned out.

Misc, On Writing, Writing

The Great Candy Bar Dump of the 1980’s

I wonder if my friends from Lynch remember a time when all the students and teachers were assembled in the gym, where, like always, we sat on the floor and looked dumbfoundedly up at the adult staffers as they talked.

I think it was after Mrs. Robinson retired and Mr. Whitlock replaced her as principal. It might have been Whitlock’s first year as principal.

I don’t know what the assembly was about. I couldn’t really hear anything they were saying. But I remember when it was over, students were handed black garbage bags that were full of candy bars.

I did not understand that we were supposed to sell these candy bars. I thought God had tipped his hat in our direction and these candy bars were ours to happily stuff our faces with.

Now that I think about it, that whole thing was poorly executed. We were kids. I was probably seven or eight at the time, and someone had just handed me a garbage bag full of candy bars. I can’t be the only one who didn’t understand what we were supposed to do with these candy bars.

Then we were trudging across the school, awkwardly hauling these massive bags. The bags were actually kind of heavy. I don’t know how many bars were in my bag, but I think it was at least a hundred. Maybe more.

We carried these bags onto the buses to take home, where we were expected to sell to our neighbors. A lot of us lived in the same subdivisions. Meaning individual neighbors could be approached multiple times by different kids.

I didn’t see anyone doing the door-to-door thing, so I don’t know how it played out. I remember my dad was mad about me eating the candy bars, because he had to pay for them. I ate a few.

My dad took them away. I was under the impression that he had sold them to guys at work. But now, I think he probably just gave them back to the school. He did give me one bar that he bought out of the rest.

Novel 6
Words Added: 559
Total Wordcount: 78,107
Total Pagecount: 386

Story 42
Words Added: 655
Total Wordcount: 2,287
Total Pagecount: 12

Basketball, G-League, Misc, NBA, NCAA, On Writing, Series Talk, Sports, Writing

Trudging

I considered ordering food for supper, but I’ve been spending too much on DoorDash lately. Need to give it a rest.

Besides, it’s been snowing, I didn’t feel like shoveling the driveway and sidewalk today. I think it’d be rude of me to expect a DoorDasher to trudge through knee-deep snow to bring my order to the door.

So, I cooked ribs.

While looking for a game to watch, I discovered the NBA G-League. Can’t say I heard of the G-League before. I guess it’s like a minor league to the NBA. I’m not up to speed on what the NBA calls their lower-level affiliates, but I know every professional sport has them.

This game was the Grand Rapids Gold and the Motor City Cruise. Going by the look of their uniform, I’d say the Motor City Cruise is a direct affliliate to the Detroit Pistons. But what do I know?

I decided to sit through the game. I enjoyed it. Most of the players did not appear to be as tall as the usual NBA player, but they played just as skillfully.

Grand Rapids won, 122-111.

So many college basketball games I find on my TV, but it’s rare that I ever find a Michigan basketball game. Unless they’re in the March Madness.

Now I’m watching Episode 2 of Archive 81.

Novel 6
Words Added: 211
Total Wordcount: 77,548
Total Pagecount: 382

Story 42
Words Added: 187
Total Wordcount: 1,632
Total Pagecount: 9

Football, NFL, On Writing, Sports, Writing

Football & Production

It was a good weekend of football. All four games were quite thrilling, and close. All of them had ties broken in the end. The victors were the Bengals, 49ers. Rams and Chiefs.

I’ve been getting in writing almost every day, but not as much as I aim for. Which is fine, but I have a lot of stories and novels I want to write, so I aim for very big numbers.

You know how I said I like to get ten pages every day, five into a novel and five into a story. The truth is, I try not to settle for less than ten pages, but I aim for way more than that.

I’m a little self-conscious about revealing exactly what number of pages I aim for. In the past, when I mentioned such goals, people would discourage me. But I know it’s possible to hit these marks. Jay Lake, Mike Resnick, Jonathan Maberry are a few writers who come to mind when I think of massive production.

I remember a time when I wrote over 7,000 words in a day, which would be about 35 pages. So, I know I can do it, I just got to stay focused and try not to burn out.

Today, I got four pages, two each.

Some years ago, I would share my daily progress stats in the format you see at the bottom of this post. A lot of writers, pros and amateurs, were sharing their stats. I thought it was fun and inspiring. It showed me what was possible, for one thing.

Then there were other writers who complained about us sharing our progress stats. I guess our stats made them feel incompetent or pressured, or something. I started feeling self-conscious about sharing my stats. Maybe other writers did too, because they don’t share theirs anymore either.

I wonder if I should’ve just kept doing my thing and told the snobs to go to hell.

Novel
Words Added: 437
Total Wordcount: 77,337
Total Pagecount: 382

Story
Words Added: 454
Total Wordcount: 1,445
Total Pagecount: 8

Football, Misc, NFL, On Writing, Series Talk, Sports, Writing

Ties are Meant to be Broken

Both games today were close, with ties broken in the end by field goals. Earlier, the Bengals beat the Titans, 19-16. The 49ers just beat the Packers 13-10. It’s snowing Green Bay, which probably means it’s snowing here too.

Tomorrow, it’ll be the Rams and Buccaneers and Bills and Chiefs. Don’t miss the Ram-Buc game. That’s Stafford and Brady. Starts at 3PM, on NBC.

‘Twas a slow day, but I got a few pages into each project. Novel, 380 pages-76,900 words. Story, 6 pages-991 words.

I started watching a creepy series on Netflix called Archive 81. Think I’ll finish this first episode and call it a night.

Hockey, Misc, NHL, On Writing, Sports, Writing

Not Everything I Write Is Great

Not everything I write is great. A lot of it sucks. I just make it a point to finish every story I start before I start another one, no matter how awful it is or how long it’s taking me to get it done. I will finish it.

This is something I wish I had been doing when I was young. I didn’t actually get into this mindset until my mid-30s.

The thing, for me anyway, is not to write the greatest stories, but to just get all these stories down before I die. Sometimes they come out good, sometimes I think they’re great. Sometimes they suck, but at least I got the thing done.

So, I finished that sport-themed short story today. It closed up with 22 pages, 4,596 words. I’m satisfied with it.

I already started the next short story. This one is another noir. I’m on page 3 and I’m 353 words in. I like how it’s going, so far.

I got six pages into the novel. The novel is now 377 pages and 76,209 words.

So, a total of eleven pages of fiction written today. I wanted to get in a few more, but I’m burning out.

I cooked a good-sized steak for supper. My mom and dad gave me a bunch of different seasonings for Christmas. I’ve been using the Weber Steak & Chop Seasoning a lot. I really like it.

I’m going to watch the last period of the Red Wing-Star game. They’re tied. 3-3.