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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1/1/06: Reflections and resolutions
Word count: 325 | Since last entry: 325
I am disappointed in myself. 2005 was a good year for publications, but a wretched year for production and sales. I wrote only two new stories, one a collaboration, and made only one pro sale. Basically, I took a break after submitting the novel and (for a variety of reasons including being called upon to do some addional novel-related work, but also including my own laziness) never got back on the horse. As a result of this, I currently have only four stories in submission and no sold stories awaiting publication. I fear that I may have sabotaged my career.
So. That's going to change.
My new year's resolution is to write a hundred words a day, no matter what. I know that this is a very achievable goal -- I can write 500 words an hour when I get rolling. The point of the hundred-word goal is to get my butt in the chair and writing, even on days when I "don't feel like it." I'm not making any commitments about what I'm going to write. Could be new stories, could be rewrites on existing stories, could be a new novel. But I'm going to put my butt in my chair and by God write.
I'm off to a good start, with 325 words on a from-the-ground-up rewrite of the Jupiter story (despite not getting back from dinner until 10pm). This story has had near-misses at all the major markets and the consensus of the editors is that it's too distanced; the main character is all reflection and reaction, not action, and the whole story's told in flashback. So I'm rewriting it from scratch, with the same plot outline but a new main character: an engineer instead of a photographer. If I can keep up this pace I should be done in two or three weeks, and that would feel good. Wish me luck!
Posted 01/01/2006 23:54 [e-mail me] [post comment] [permalink]
Back from a delightful New Year's Eve party at Willow Cottage, and just about to head off to a New Year's Day brunch, followed by a movie and dinner with some other friends. Just enough time for a quick note while the biscuits are baking.
As faithful readers will no doubt recall, the Day Job was eating my life in the first half of December. So I didn't even start my Xmas* shopping until about December 20, and we didn't buy a tree until the 23rd. Never did get the lights up (lights are important to me, especially in these latitudes where I drive to work in the dark and drive home in the dark for months at a time).
Kate's sister Sue came in on the 24th with our two younger nieces, ages 2 and 6. They made the house... lively. I don't deal well with small children. And when we opened the presents on the 25th, what I found under the tree for me was a book, 3 CD's, some napkins, and a table runner. All carefully chosen and apropos, but not exciting. We also got a nice package of goodies from Kate's parents the previous week, but those had mostly been eaten already.
So the excitement didn't really start for me until Thursday, when a package arrived from John Helmer (one of the nation's finest haberdashers, which just happens to be located right here in Portland). It contained the present I'd requested from Kate: a collapsible top hat. It had to be special ordered in my size (1/8" smaller than Bullwinkle's). It made me go squee! I wore it to New Year's Eve and got many compliments.
Then on Friday, another package arrived, containing two Squeezebox music players. Briefly, the Squeezebox is a small device that has a Wi-Fi antenna on one end and stereo plugs on the other. It makes all of the music stored on your computer available to your stereo. Along with a new file server installed in the attic, and a Kloss Model Two radio for the dining room we now have high-quality digital music available throughout the house, something we've wanted for years. This was my big present to Kate for the year.
Biscuits are done. Time to go!
* I'm using "X" here as a variable, to stand for The Winter Holiday of Your Choice.
Posted 01/01/2006 12:40 [e-mail me] [post comment] [permalink]
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