“They’re only words, unless they’re true”*

(*with apologies to Carl Wilson, et al.)

Jesus, this place got dusty. That’s okay, though. We’ll just sweep it all under the rug and get to bloggin’.

My bud Jill asked me re: my latest piece “Masked”…

When can I read this?

Hell, when am I going to read it?

I haven’t since I posted that last entry. “Masked” ended up being a beast of a manuscript, clocking in at 6,651 words by MSWord count. By the “usual” method, we’re talking 6,960…call it 7k (especially if I’m sending this to a pro market :)). That’s part of the reason I haven’t re-read it yet. Yes, there’s all that jazz about letting a story “cool” for a bit. But, I just don’t write 6600 words! 5500, one time (the one piece I’ve sold for actual cash). But 6600? I know I’ve gotta trim, but the last couple of times I read it, I was hard-pressed to find 1600 words worth of stuff to cut.

That’ll change, I know. I’m in a panic over nothing. I’m sure when I look at it again (not until at least Monday), I’ll be able to take the pencil and slash away. Then, I’ll bring it to ol’ writing group (if they can stomach it again–if I can stomach it again), and once it passes muster, then I may pass it around to other folks, kind of like a Camberwell Carrot.

Tough Love

I went to Sunday’s crit group session ready to read, but only if I couldn’t avoid it. It turns out that I did manage to avoid it, which was just as well. Basically, I finished up “version 0.9” of “Masked,” but the only part that was presentable was the ending, which I didn’t want to give away.

And I finished up solely with the help of my AlphaSmart. Yes, I’ve handed over cash, so this thing is officially mine. And, worth every penny! Each and every day, I’ve generated a minimum of 500 words per session–the pulling teeth, “I really don’t feel like doing this shit,” taking my muse by the neck and wringing it like a wet towel minimum. The average has really been more along the lines of 750 words of draft and edits, not just on “Masked,” but on other projects as well, including a Raketenwerfer piece I should really get to finishing.

And since I also scored a copy of the Get It utility, I crammed the portions I needed to edit back into the AS3K, and now “Masked” is done! In the can, as they say. I printed out a clean, new copy and let it cool for a day. I’m not even going to read it.

The next project is on the sidebar. But, like I said, I’m taking a little break to get back to some reading, and maybe a bit of blogging.

Slack! (Why Not?)

I’m considering a “radical” idea. I’ve got a couple of stories to work on finishing, so when the next crit group session comes, I’m not going to read. *Gasp!* That’s right, kids. I’m going to continue with “Masked,” and send it out to those folks who’ve agreed to read it. I might bring the rough draft of “The one with the warlock JuCo” (Yeah that’s a new one. I might put up a counter, but I’m not feeling it.) if too few people plan to read.

On the other hand, my original goal for that piece was to make it a flash piece…

New Old Toy

I forget if I’ve talked about wanting one of those PDA/fold-out keyboard combos, something to use as an ultraportable word processor to write on the fly a la Warren Ellis, et. al. Others have opted for something like this here device, the AlphaSmart 3000.

It’s a sturdy one-piece word processor. That’s it. No wireless or Bluetooth capability, not even Tetris–at least, not the lower-end model and certainly not on the discontinued models. And, having been loaned one for the past two days with an option to buy, it’s taken me exactly that long to fall in love with it. It’s an older, dinosaur model and not as small as a PDA, but it gives me exactly what I need!

It’s solid and light (less than two pounds). The battery life is ridiculously long. It dumps content onto my computer, into whatever program I can type into (Word, Notepad, whatever), and even works as a keyboard emulator, to boot. I typed out most of this entry (aside from some minor edits) in a coffee shop a few hours ago, and I’m right now watching it dump right into a Blogger entry box.

The implications for my writing productivity blow my mind. Plus, all the potential ways I could “lifehack” this thing–hell, it’s a listmaker and calculator, what more could a GTD geek ask for?

Of course, once I own this puppy, I have no excuse whatsoever for writing something–a “plug-in,” some flash fiction, the occasional brainstorm, some edits–every single day. Not that I’ll be using this every time, just for the times when I feel I just have to type as opposed to handwrite stuff for whatever reason.

Gone will be the days when I go, “Eh, I need to type this out; I’ll just wait until I get home.” Gone will be the days I lug around my laptop almost every damn day only to get a little bit done because I’ve dicked around on teh Intarwebs. Nope, no more excuses that don’t have to do directly with my willpower or lack thereof.

Tough Love

As you can see from the progress bar (until I nuke it, that is), I’m 99% done with the first draft of “The one with the mask,” which is now officially titled “Masked” (until I change it). No, I’m really not just one word shy of finishing. Rather, I’ve written all the scenes that I know are part of the story and it’s just a matter of putting them together.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t do it in time for the last group session, as I promised. They didn’t seem to mind. They seemed more upset at the idea that I wasn’t going to bring the story back. I mean, it’d been six weeks already. Luckily, they were almost unanimously willing to individually look at a finished version once I got it together, which should be in a few days (I hope).

Here’s what they had to say…

The Good

  • The portion I shared got the adrenaline running, it seemed.
  • I snuck in a revised, condensed version of some of the stuff I shared last time. No one seemed to have a problem with it. In fact, one person noted that I effectively implemented the fixes that were suggested in the last session. Hey, reduce, reuse, and recycle, right?

The Bad

  • I knew there’d be problems with the flashbacks sooner or later. I tried to stick with the rule about how to frame them grammatically in a story, but I floundered in places.
  • I had a couple of longish sentences.
  • There were a couple of minor plot points and details that could stand to be cut out.

The Ugly
How ugly could it have been when apparently it’s now the rule (as a joke!!) that I’m to read last so no one has to follow me? Okay, that was shameless of me to repeat that, but that’s what they said. No, for me the ugly part is that I just couldn’t get it all done. But, I’ve acquired a tool lately that will go a long way to removing some of the barriers to getting shit done that aren’t directly related to my will power.