I Write Stuff to Cure Your Insomnia
That’s right. I did some writing this week. I felt inspired the other night, and I dragged out (virtually) an old story I worked on 13 years ago (at least that’s the age of the computer file. I started writing it by hand and who knows how many years went by before I typed it into the computer. Oh, yeah, I remember typing it into an electric typewriter (which I bought before I bought my first laptop, after which I stopped using the electric typewriter, which stored files on floppy disks, which seemed like a good idea, except that those floppy disks, while being the exact same kind of floppy disks that computers use, can not be read in any computer, so those files can only be read (or typed out) on the typewriter, which means, ugh, who knows when I will ever get those files out, and the typewriter screen only shows like three or four lines at a time. Still, I like that typewriter, even though I haven’t used it in years, but I did clean it off a couple months ago. I’m pretty sure I used that typewriter to type up and send out my first story that I had published anywhere, besides my own publications.))
Where was I?
Oh, yeah, old story… Anyway, so I dragged out this old story I had worked on many years ago. I had gone through ten drafts/revisions/living-Hades, and never gotten it quite right. I had the whole novel (started as a short story but I couldn’t stop myself) planned out, but never got to the end, because I kept making changes before I got that far. At one point, I even crumbled the whole thing (folder, notes, everything, etc.) up and threw it in the trash. (I did get it out later.)
This was a story that started out as fiction (I think–I haven’t dragged out the folder–just the digital file of the last attempt–so I don’t know for sure, but I think it started as fiction) but, as many of my stories that start out as fiction do, became science fiction. Yeah. I do that. I can’t seem to write a “normal” story. Aliens, other worlds, the paranormal, unicorns, etc. all seem to come into play at some point.
And, yes, I realize you may consider unicorns as fantasy, but rhinos exist and they have a single horn, so isn’t a unicorn a scientific possibility? Eh? Yeah, fantasy and scifi blend sometimes. Often.
Except my story about a serial killer–I haven’t turned that into scifi either. But, that’s horror. Sort of. So, you know, the exception that proves the rule and all.
At any rate, like I said so long ago at the beginning of this post–and congratulations if you’re still reading–I felt inspired the other day. Mainly, it was J.D.’s comment on my comment on her blog post that got me thinking of this old story (don’t ask me why) and that got me inspired (how many times have I used “inspired” in this blog post) to think that I could tackle this story again and maybe finish it off.
So, here I am, with a second revision on a new opener, and I’m not feeling inspired anymore. I’m starting to think maybe this story comes with a permanent writing block attached. I swear, it sounded more amusing in my head when I was thinking about it (while away from the computer) than when I actually sat down to type it in, at which point it seemed kind of lame and didn’t seem funny at all, in comparison to the version in my head, which was mildly amusing.
So, maybe I need a second (or third or fourth but probably just second or third, because there are probably not more than that still reading this blog, since Google dumped me at PR0 and then I dumped Google AdSense because they’re not going to make a penny off this blog if they don’t want me making money off this blog but I before I digress further into a rant about Google, I better get back to whatever it is I was writing about. And now I will need to pause for a moment as I look back to see what I was talking about… Okay, eyes!) pair of eyes to take a look at the story opener and give me some thoughts as to whether you’d go on to the next chapter or just put it down and look for an old TV Guide to read instead.
In the next post, that’s the one after this one (chronologically after this one, otherwise, before this one), I will post the opener. It’ll be password-protected, so you can’t see it unless you’re among the elite few who will know the password. And, to be among the elite few, you’ll need to leave a comment on this post, asking for a password. Then, I’ll eMail you one. Maybe. And, if you’re reading this weeks or months from now, don’t ask because you’re too late.
Then, if you’re among the lucky (or maybe unlucky–we’ll see–) few who get a password, please read it then jump back to this post to leave a comment. That’s because, for some unknown reason, WordPress won’t let you leave a comment on a password-protected post. I don’t know why, and I haven’t figured it out, and I’m not keen on trying to figure it out, so just deal. Okay? Thanks.
i care