Are you kidding me?
Jul. 2nd, 2005 05:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pjthompsonOverheard "conversation" of the day:
About eight this morning I was in the antechamber off my bathroom. The bathroom itself is right over the alley behind the apartment building and I'm only on the second floor, so that alley is real close. I always keep the bathroom window open and this morning I heard car tires on the gravel, the car stopping right below my window, the door opening. Then I heard this woman's voice: "Are you f--ing kidding me? Are you f--ing kidding me? I got a f--ing flat tire from running over a f--ing bicycle thing?"
I don't know if there was anyone else in the car—no one answered her—and I wondered if she'd pulled into the alley to get away from the person who's "bicycle thing" she'd run over. A few moments later, I heard the car door close and the car pull (slowly) away from the building.
The mean streets of L.A., folks. No bicycle thing is safe.
Thing I thought of blogging about today: Tom Cruise's obvious chemical imbalance.
Why I didn't blog it: I still might, but I needed to do other stuff and Tom's not that important.
Other thing I thought of blogging about today: My frustration over my explain-o-mania—a tendency to always want to explain myself because I'm just sure I've been misunderstood.
Why I didn't blog it: It seemed too much like explaining myself. :-)
Misspeak of the day: The news dude who called the famous Leonardo da Vinci painting, "The Virgin On the Rocks."
Writing of the day: A crit and I worked on the opening of my long novelette, "Sealed With A Curse."
I've reworked that thing so many times, but something still nags at me. I have that deep sense of knowing that it isn't quite there—you know the one? But I can't put my finger on what it is. It's just not special enough.
At one point today I thought, "How would Kage Baker write this? Why can't I write it like Kage Baker?"
Answer: I'm not Kage Baker.
Other answer: I'll never write "special" stories if I'm not true to myself. I've got to grow and adapt, of course, but my voice is not going to be anyone else's voice. I have my own voice. I'm not sure it's a commercial voice, but it's the one I've got to work with. I'll never write "special" stories if I'm not true to myself.
I've lost track somewhat of what's special about this story in trying to satisfy the critiques and honing it down to a more reasonable length. The thing is, I know there are parts of it that are really good, that are special. But the entry into the story, any story, is crucial and if I can't get that right, no one's ever going to read the rest. I harp on openings in my crits all the time because I know how critical they are, but sometimes it's difficult to take my own advice.
Ya know?
About eight this morning I was in the antechamber off my bathroom. The bathroom itself is right over the alley behind the apartment building and I'm only on the second floor, so that alley is real close. I always keep the bathroom window open and this morning I heard car tires on the gravel, the car stopping right below my window, the door opening. Then I heard this woman's voice: "Are you f--ing kidding me? Are you f--ing kidding me? I got a f--ing flat tire from running over a f--ing bicycle thing?"
I don't know if there was anyone else in the car—no one answered her—and I wondered if she'd pulled into the alley to get away from the person who's "bicycle thing" she'd run over. A few moments later, I heard the car door close and the car pull (slowly) away from the building.
The mean streets of L.A., folks. No bicycle thing is safe.
Thing I thought of blogging about today: Tom Cruise's obvious chemical imbalance.
Why I didn't blog it: I still might, but I needed to do other stuff and Tom's not that important.
Other thing I thought of blogging about today: My frustration over my explain-o-mania—a tendency to always want to explain myself because I'm just sure I've been misunderstood.
Why I didn't blog it: It seemed too much like explaining myself. :-)
Misspeak of the day: The news dude who called the famous Leonardo da Vinci painting, "The Virgin On the Rocks."
Writing of the day: A crit and I worked on the opening of my long novelette, "Sealed With A Curse."
I've reworked that thing so many times, but something still nags at me. I have that deep sense of knowing that it isn't quite there—you know the one? But I can't put my finger on what it is. It's just not special enough.
At one point today I thought, "How would Kage Baker write this? Why can't I write it like Kage Baker?"
Answer: I'm not Kage Baker.
Other answer: I'll never write "special" stories if I'm not true to myself. I've got to grow and adapt, of course, but my voice is not going to be anyone else's voice. I have my own voice. I'm not sure it's a commercial voice, but it's the one I've got to work with. I'll never write "special" stories if I'm not true to myself.
I've lost track somewhat of what's special about this story in trying to satisfy the critiques and honing it down to a more reasonable length. The thing is, I know there are parts of it that are really good, that are special. But the entry into the story, any story, is crucial and if I can't get that right, no one's ever going to read the rest. I harp on openings in my crits all the time because I know how critical they are, but sometimes it's difficult to take my own advice.
Ya know?