Plodding or is it Plotting Along?

Well, I'm about 30% through this round of editing on The Page & The Magician. I think I may do another round after that is a sentence by sentence run through where I'll try to make each the best it can be. I learned Anne Rice writes that way. She makes each sentence the best she can rather than rushing through to finish the draft.

If I did that, I think I'd be paralyzed with writer's block. I do wonder if it leads to much less revision later though.

I have more short stories planned for other contests and such. I submitted Purple Ribbons the other day to a newspaper one. I had to mail it in. They didn't provide an email address to send it to.

I have a new book I'm expecting tomorrow. It's an absolute beginners guide to drawing. I've always wanted to learn and if I get good, perhaps I can make my own book cover art and have other media to sell along with my books. Right now this is mostly a pipe dream, but so was writing at all at one time.

I was frustrated recently. The normal frustration all writers feel at some point. Can I call myself an author when I'm still not published? Why did I ever start writing the damn book? All typical artist doubts.

I haven't written today other than this blog post. I'm feeling the need for a day off. It's hard to remember words and I don't want to experience burnout.

I wanted to get out and see Deadpool, but I didn't manage to do it. Maybe this week.

I'm addicted to Jessica Jones. Can't wait to see what happens next. It gripped me early on. I love that the protagonist is a strong female, yet she's damaged. It makes for an authentic character that I can relate to despite her being a superhero.

Well, back to laundry.

Ciao,
R~

2020 Vision

Mostly, I’ve been planning for the new year, but I discovered I know Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It was a recollection under the influence that brought this to light. I also discovered I still suck at drawing, but I’m okay with that. I used to think I had to be good at everything, and I’ve realized that’s just not so. Some friends and I recently hit up a local board game pub. It was a pretty fun night. The first game was Balderdash and I was terrible at it. Because I was the writer in the group, some of my friends thought I should be more embarrassed about it and hide the fact that I don’t spend all my free time learning advanced vocabulary. But I’m not upset about it. Why? Two reasons: 1. I now know what I don’t know. 2. If one takes a close look at the top selling novels on the market, the level of the language used is not the level of many of the words in Balderdash. Not that I’m comparing my own work to those, but audience is what matters in writing. To me, it is far better to e...

Fortifying Friday - Rejection

Yesterday, I received my first rejection from an agent. It stung. It wasn't that it was bad. It was worded in a way that it may have even been personally written. Regardless, rejection never feels good unless you were secretly hoping to stay home and do nothing when a friend made plans with you. Then it feels great! I might be an introvert ;) Anyway, it hurts a bit extra when you have other things going on. Between the worries of the state of the world and being unemployed, it felt much like being kicked while I was already down. The agent said she couldn't connect with my book though she really wanted to. She also said not to take her rejection as any kind of sign that I should give up. It was nice as far as rejections go. So, I lay there for a bit. Then I let my friends know via social media. Several said that I had hit a milestone and I should try to collect as many as possible this year. Rejections, they said, were a badge of honour awarded for putting myself out there. See...

Thoughtful Thursday - Dental Access

I haven't made use of it yet as I discovered it only this week, but there are free dental screenings in Ottawa for people who have a low income. I'm not sure what happens at these things, but I imagine they're rather like the once or twice yearly visits we had in grade school from the health unit where they checked our teeth. Anyway, I thought I'd mention that in case anyone is in need. There is a schedule with the locations listed and I'm guessing it's hard to get there early enough to get seen, but I'll check it out soon. I've been using dental products that are supposed to repair and whiten. I'm unsure they are working, but I figured they were worth a try. Also, I hear if you add activated charcoal to your toothbrush before the toothpaste, it helps whiten too. It makes a hell of a mess, but I tried it. I think it might take a while to whiten, but my teeth are definitely cleaner, so I think it really does help with plaque. Activated charcoal is als...

Rae Roy

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