The ongoing saga of David D. Levine's writing and other adventures.
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I'm a geek, fan, and writer who lives in Portland, Oregon.
For more information about me, please see my
web page. If you have questions, comments, or just want to chat, you can send me e-mail. Or you can post a comment on my LiveJournal. |
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Word count: 17219
Just got back from a weekend at the Oregon Writers Colony's Colonyhouse at the Oregon Coast. Spent the whole time writing, apart from meals and one walk on the beach. Finished Chapter 2 and wrote the entirety of Chapter B (I think... it feels a little short, but it does cover everything in the outline) for a total of over 4000 new words! I had been hoping for 5000 words but I think that was unrealistic. New material includes the death of Vigor, a breakthrough by Jason, a shooting scene using info from my shoot-out a couple weeks ago, and a really steamy seduction scene.
Interesting note: on Saturday, between lunch and dinner (3 hours) I wrote 1000 words. Between dinner and bed (also 3 hours) I wrote over 2000 words. Also, the 2000 words were more fun to write and feel like much better writing than the 1000 words. The difference? The 2000 words included a key scene that I have been reviewing in my head for months; the 1000 words I wrote in the afternoon were all material I hadn't thought through in detail and I was making it up as I went along.
This puts me in mind of a favorite Shoe cartoon, in which little Skyler says to his uncle Cosmo "You're a writer. Shouldn't you be pounding the keyboard instead of staring out the window?" Cosmo responds: "Typists pound keyboards. Writers stare out windows." I think I need to spend a little more time staring out the window. (Of course, when I tried this at the coast I fell asleep. But the principle is sound.)
Posted 05/11/2003 21:47 [e-mail me] [post comment] [permalink]
Word count: 13179
Only 900 words in the last week. Clarity's father still not dead. But I'm going to the coast Friday for a weekend of nothing but writing.
Right now I'm just massively frustrated. I have a couple of stories I feel very strongly are some of my best work, and both of them have now bounced from every major market. The rejections have been incredibly positive -- Gardner Dozois called one of them "nicely crafted and nicely felt"; Ellen Datlow said it was "moving and disturbing"; Gordon Van Gelder called it "audacious" -- but they all turned it down anyway. Grr; argh. I'd rather have a half-hearted acceptance than even the most complimentary rejection.
On the other hand, people's responses to "The Tale of the Golden Eagle" have been outstanding.
Posted 05/06/2003 21:59 [e-mail me] [post comment] [permalink]
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