Baseball, Hunting, Misc, MLB, On Writing, Sports, Writing

The Last of the Venison

Just ate the last of the deer I shot in October. Steak. It was good. Hope I get more meat this coming fall.

Not sure if I’m done for the day, but I might be. In my earlier post, I told you I was using the stopwatch on my phone to time how long it takes me to get each page down and that I was trying to beat the previous times. In that post I told you that the latest time was 00:19:30:02 and that was for one whole page. Since then I got down three more pages. Here’s the times.

1st page – 00:19:30.02
2nd page – 00:17:01.76
3rd page – 00:16:20.42
4th page – 00:13:37.41

I successfully beat the previous time every time. Each of these were full pages. I would say the writing quality is fair, but probably will be cutting out a bit when I go over the finished rough draft and there are many typos. But the story is getting down and that’s the important thing at this point.

I would like to get it down to ten minutes per page, so I’m still striving for more speed. But that 13 minutes and 37 seconds time is a new record for me.

Also, I need to take shorter breaks after completing a page.

In any case, today’s work was fun. Think I’ll be doing it like this for a while. It’s real sporty.

Tigers at 10.

Misc, On Writing, Writing

Mornin’

Been up since 6 AM. Though I don’t normally drink coffee, I have coffee supplies in the kitchen so my brother, or anyone else,  can have some when here. But to assure I stay awake this morning, I decided to make myself a cup. Since my dad recently gave me some pointers on how a cup of coffee should be made, my coffee isn’t as terrible as it used to be.

I’m trying to pick up speed on the novel. I can often get a whole page down in under twenty minutes. I’ve been using the stopwatch feature on my phone to confirm that. I know that’s not bad. Any writer would be proud of that score, and I am. But. I. Need. More. Speed.

I know of writers who can nail down around 2,000 words, about ten pages, in an hour. I would love to be able to get my projects done that fast. Sure, they’ll be messy rough drafts  But that’s what the clean up process is for. I have a lot of projects planned and I want to get them done.

So, I’m working on that. Trying to beat my old time every time. The latest time on the stopwatch is 19:30.02. That was for an entire page of exactly 266 words.

Jay Lake once said, “Writing is an endurance sport.” I’m trying to build up my ability to endure high speeds like Jay did.

In other news, my cousin Josh just finished medical school. That’s a huge accomplishment. If I’m understanding correctly, he’ll soon begin his practice as an orthopaedic surgeon. I might have to  see him about the finger Mr. Ed tried to eat thirty years ago.

Books, Reviews

A Life In Parts, by Bryan Cranston

Bryan Cranston is best known for his role as Walter White on AMC’s Breaking Bad. In his book, A Life In Parts, Cranston recounts his life from childhood to his time after Breaking Bad. We learn about his struggles with anxiety and his pain, and we learn about his work.

Although Cranston didn’t actually say so in these words, I felt that many times he was saying the same thing I’ve been saying: “Do the best you can, hope for the best and see what happens.” It’s been kind of a motto for me.

Cranston didn’t expect he would be a success. He didn’t know Breaking Bad would be the hit that it was. He just gave it his all and look what happened.

Another thing I came away with is that people at the top of the ladder, no matter how much experience they have, they are often wrong. Directors and networks, and so on. The people who sit at the long tables and make the big decisions. There were times they didn’t feel Cranston was right for the role or that his work sucked. But he got the part because someone would believe in him and fight for him.

Once in the role, Cranston would prove the higher-ups wrong. This was the case with Breaking Bad and it was the case with Malcolm in the Middle. Cranston showed those who didn’t believe in him that he was the best man for the role.

I apply that to writing, and pretty much anything else too. Some editors might think your work is terrible, but other editors might disagree with them. In the past, I would feel that if one editor didn’t like my work, the work was shit and no one was going to want it. I threw away a lot of stories that were probably fine. These days I keep my work on the market until it sells, because editors ain’t always right, just like directors, networks and producers ain’t always right. Not even doctors are always right.

The message I get from Cranston’s book is, if you want it, work for it and you just might get  it.

Don’t give up.

Misc

Cleaned Up the Attic

Well, my attic was always pretty clean. It doesn’t even get dusty up there. But I had some junk. Today I threw out what I didn’t need. The few things that I did need, I was able to fit them behind the wall by the stairs where they can’t be seen. So, now there’s just a couple end tables, a bean bag and two chairs.

I just got the flip out chair today, so my brother can sleep up there when he stays the night here. He stays a night here every now and then. The attic makes a good guest room.

Misc, On Writing, Writing

No Advance

I haven’t been blogging much lately. Haven’t been getting to it and don’t really have anything to say. There has been no movement in the novel since the latest update. I was stuck, couldn’t figure out how to go forward and decided to read the thing from the beginning.

I have a couple more scenes to read, and then I’ll be where I left off at and can resume writing. The read from the beginning was effective. Ideas came to mind and I see how to continue for the next chapter or so.

I’ve also been cleaning up a short story that I finished a couple months ago. I wrote this story really fast and made a big mess. When I write fast and sloppy, the edit process takes more time, but it’s not that difficult to do. I find that pretty much all I have to do is cut out the crap and fix typos. I don’t see much that needs to be rewritten.

So, while the fast and sloppy approach will give me a lot of work when I edit the story, the story is down. I like that. The reason I had to read what I got down on the novel so far is that I was writing too slowly and forgot about things from the earlier chapters that I needed to keep the story going.

I’m going to try speeding up the novel when I get back to the writing.

Misc

Easter 2017

Didn’t really do anything. Went to mom and dad’s for while, and then dad and I went to my sister’s for dinner. My mom had to work.

Wanted to get beer on the way home from Nicole’s, but the store was closed. It just seemed like a nice day to sit out on my porch and drink beer. Maybe tomorrow.