lookingland | i remember when i used to be able to write ~

this is just a necessary update on the whole pursuance thing:

the bad thing about saturating your brain with victorian writing is that you inadvertently start emulating it.

Mr. Hanty never settles easily into anything, being by nature vigilant and by experience knowledgeable in the myriad ways that fickle Fortune turns her face from the favored.

yeah, wow. i churned that buttery crumpet out with about a dozen others like pez this afternoon. i can't decide if it's bad writing or just really amusing.

the book is mostly a mess. i've lost confidence in doing it justice. the characters are more alive than ever for me, i feel like i have a solid handle on them, but now they're bopping around in my head, knocking into each other like little shorebirds puttering drunk in the surf.

spent i don't know how much time cutting Poppet's defense from 17 pages down to 11, but it still seems pretty dang long and even though i think i did a pretty brilliant job of preserving its integrity and tightening some of its very victorian rhetorical devices, i just don't know otherwise what to do with it.

i want to hire an artist and dispense with the narrative. the dialogue is all written, it's painting in the rest of the scenes that's making me crazy.

i am trying, so hard, not to get so frustrated that i throw this thing out the window. i want to finish it ~ at least so that it's complete beginning to end, even if that means i have to shove it in a drawer for a few months in order to get some perspective on it. at least then i can come back to it as a whole instead of scattershot as it is now. for having generated such an extensive and elaborate outline for this project, i sure have made an unsightly mess of keeping it all organized.

: o p

p.s. lj seems to having some strange notification lag going on ~ so i'm not ignoring anybody, i promise. if i haven't responded to something it's because i have no idea i was s'pose to.

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I've noticed the same lag. It seems this happens every six months or so on here, doesn't it?

Putting something aside for a while works very well, especially if you get frustrated by something you are writing. I know that when I get frustrated with something (like this query letter), it will take me ten times longer to get through one sentence then when I am more relaxed and patient with it. So definitely put it aside for a few days, get your head off of it, do some other stuff, and then take it out again. :)

true that: on the lag. this morning i had a ton of emails in my box ~ hahahahaha.

i've been taking a break, but yeah, maybe i need a longer break ~ hahahahaha ~ this is why i want to just finish a complete draft, so i won't feel like i need to keep picking it up.

: D

It's interesting how when you read Victorian literature, it's writing style just takes over you.

I think it sounds quite amusing. ^_^ Though when it comes to writing letters, it's immensely fun to utilize Victorian prose!

Speaking of writing, I've done a lot of revamping of my Kate and Jill novel, and now I'm thinking that if I alter it anymore I'll tear out my hair. I have to just stick with it. Let it sit and stop being fussy.

Are you ever like that? Re-writing a scene over and over again because there's just something about it that you don't quite like, but it never turns out as perfect as you would like? That's where I stand now. :P

I hope you're able to finish it and organize it somehow! For it sounds like such a good idea. By the way, whenever I read your journal entries, I learn so much about that period of American history. It's fascinating at times.

i have definitely rewritten some scenes ad nauseum on various projects, though have usually managed to settle into something i am happy with (after about the 100th try) ~ hahahahaha.

i do agree, though, sometimes you just have to stop poking at the thing and let it breathe for a while.

i'm glad to hear your are still working away on Kate and Jill! now that you've revamped, you can let it set before you serve (just like pie!).

: D

Sometimes perspective is a useful thing. I rushed into my third novel in a trilogy; figured out halfway through that it wasn't what I should be doing... and basically finished it so I could say I did. If nothing else, it became a lesson in what I didn't want to do. Ended it in such a way as to discount it, and still haven't started the "real" third book.

aww, i hope you'll get back to it. i'm still in the process of throwing out old drafts and finding it very liberating. i've found that sometimes holding on to the "wrong" draft of something can keep you from moving forward. for what that's worth.

: D

I made a pilgrimage to South Mountain today! I did a small post this evening but will post many pictures tomorrow.

..........oh yeah. I saw the Snarly Yow, too.

:D

ooooo pixtures! and yowly snarls! can't wait!

: D

i want to hire an artist and dispense with the narrative. the dialogue is all written, it's painting in the rest of the scenes that's making me crazy.

And if not, why not?

Although, aren't you an artist?

Well, whatever you decide, i hope you click back in the groove with the book.

I'm also getting no updates.

artist being a relative term where my "art" is concerned, i don't have the chops to render any of this respectably (though i haven't actually tried, so maybe you have a point and i should at least fail before i throw in the towel ~ hahahahahaha).

thanks for the well wishes ~ i will get into the groove. the little engine says i must.

: D

I'm not allowed to give advice anymore. I have a big yellow warning sign slapped on my forehead: DO NOT TAKE ADVICE FROM THIS PERSON!

especially about writing ... and the rest of life.

But (and this is not advice just a comment)--It would be a shame if you let yourself get so frustrated you threw this story out the window.

It would.

m.

but...but...but....what about the Big Book?

i'll be so lost without it!

dunna worry, it's on the sill, but not out the window. i think with some fresh air and sunlight, it might take root and be saved.

: D

I rather liked "fickle Fortune turns her face from the favored."...really!

Please don't throw this out the window. I have a feeling (and I might be completely wrong, so please feel free to take this with a big hunk o'salt) that maybe it's because you're getting close to finishing this that the itchies have set in. Cuz, hasn't it been a while since you've finished something and then had to go about doing something with it?

On the other hand, stewing works for me. I have to set things aside all the time because it's so easy to lose perspective. So, maybe that's not such a bad idea? You've set a pretty tight schedule for yourself on this one and maybe that's working against you? Or not...but, good thoughts heading your way, regardless....:)

well if you like the line, then i'll keep it ~ ! hahahaha ~

: D

you're prolly right about all the needless pressure i've slopped on myself thinking this ought to have been a "commercial venture" and that i ought to be able to sell it, etc., when i know darn well it's gonna wind up some literary morass of totally unmarketable suey just like all the others.

which i guess is why i ought to just finish it and stop pretending as if it's any different than anything else piled to the ceiling in my closet ~ hahahahaha.

thank you for all the good thoughts ~ they help muchly either way!

: D

i remember when i used to be able to write ~

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Hey, guess what....

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