I’ve been wanting to submit something to the CSS Zen Garden for some time now. I just came up with a spiff series of ideas. Go, me!

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July 1:

Two short stories revised and out the door.
All citations and references in place for writing the paper (this is
mostly done).
Doodle on outline for current novel.
XSL-FO template written for IEEE paper. That may not sound like a
writing goal, but it is. 🙂

July 15:

Academic paper written, revised, and out the door.
I’ll have no fiction quota during this time.

August 1:

Full outline for current novel.
Conceptual outline for next novel.

August 15:

Chapters 1-3 revised for current novel (to current outline).
More chapters written. 🙂

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1. Every poet is an experimentalist.
2. Learning to write is a simple process: read something, then write something; read something else, then write something else. And show in your writing what you have read.
3. There is no one way to write and no right way to write.
4. The good stuff and the bad stuff are all part of the stuff. No good stuff without bad stuff.
5. Learn the rules, break the rules, make up new rules, break the new rules.
6. You do not learn from work like yours as much as you learn from work unlike yours.
7. Originality is a new amalgam of influences.
8. Try to write poems at least one person in the room will hate.
9. The I in the poem is not you but someone who knows a lot about you.
10. Autobiography rots.
11. A poem listens to itself as it goes.
12. It’s not what one begins with that matters; it’s the quality of attention paid to it thereafter.
13. Language is subjective and relative, but it also overlaps; get on with it.
14. Every free verse writer must reinvent free verse.
15. Prose is prose because of what it includes; poetry is poetry because of what it leaves out.
16. A short poem need not be small.
17. Rhyme and meter, too, can be experimental.
18. Poetry has content but is not strictly about its contents. A poem containing a tree may not be about a tree.
19. You need nothing more to write poems than bits of string and thread and some dust from under the bed.
20. At heart, poetic beauty is tautological: it defines its terms and exhausts them.
21. The penalty for education is self-consciousness. But it is too late for ignorance.
22. What they say “there are no words for”–that’s what poetry is for. Poetry uses words to go beyond words.
23. One does not learn by having a teacher do the work.
24. The dictionary is beautiful; for some poets, it’s enough.
25. Writing poetry is its own reward and needs no certification. Poetry, like water, seeks its own level.
26. A finished poem is also the draft of a later poem.
27. A poet sees the differences between his or her poems but a reader sees the similarities.
28. Poetry is a manifestation of more important things. On the one hand, it’s poetry! On the other, it’s just poetry.
29. Viewed in perspective, Parnassus is a very short mountain.
30. A good workshop continually signals that we are all in this together, teacher too.
31. This Depression Era jingle could be about writing poetry: Use it up / wear it out / make it do / or do without.
32. Art is a way of life, not a career.

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I still think I’m missing that which seemed blaringly obvious the other night, but, well, it’s 2659 words and that’s as long as it’s going to be for a while.

I’d just rather not have a Doh! moment about it after I send the mss. off.

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Trying to finish chapter 3, but I can’t for the life of me remember what the logic flaw was. Feh.

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Went out to Denny’s to get a writing spell done and got Chapter 3 up to 2015 words. I realized that in the prior sketch (I can’t even really call it a draft), this chapter had a logic hole so large that I could have flown an aircraft carrier through it. Given, of course, that aircraft carriers could fly. 🙂

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3447 words.

    3447 df-chap-01.txt
     389 df-chap-02.txt
    1139 df-chap-03.txt
     368 df-chap-05.txt
     523 df-chap-07.txt
    5866 total

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Finally got some uninterrupted time to work on Chapter 1. Yesterday was pretty fragmented.

New word count is 3310, which is coming along nicely. I keep twiddling with what was written before. I sitll think it’s a bit lean, and I’m having problems figuring out how to carry on some conversations without seeming too repetitive, but other than that, I’m happy with its progress.

Good novel, here’s a biscuit.

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Even though it’s 2 a.m. on Monday, I feel pretty much everything I did was on Sunday.

What I’ve accomplished:

Deep Fried Chapter 1 now stands at 3132 words. I fixed some logic errors in it, which was pretty cool. 🙂

The bigger win, though was in writing the first draft of my abstract for a technical paper, which required researching the required format, reading up on other papers I’d downloaded, and writing a grand total of 86 words. Given that I could have had a 100-word abstract, I’ll re-proof it in the morning and send it out.

I have a couple of packages to send off tomorrow, and I also have the day off. The day will be spent mostly on getting the abstract polished and a few stories in the mail. Right now, I’m not quite sure how many I’ve got out — it’s been that hectic lately. Only my database knows for sure. 🙂

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Opening bit from the pilot. I loved it for its quick characterization of Jordan and her issues. 🙂

“So, Jordan, what brings you to our anger management workshop today?”

“Well, I was, uh, remanded here by my place of employment. I kicked my boss in the cojones. He kinda found that to be a problem. See, I had this guy’s brain in my hand when my boss asked me one of his patronizing questions — oh, and speaking of, I prefer Dr. Kavanagh — and, like I said, I had this guy’s brain in my hands so I couldn’t very well punch him, right?”

Blank stares from rest of workshop participants.

“I’m uh medical examiner for the county coroner’s office. I cut up dead people for a living. It’s a great way to manage your anger, man.”

“I see. And just what are you angry at, Dr. Kavanagh?”

“Besides inane questions?”

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Woke up early today. The beginning of Chapter 20 has some especially stupid dialogue, but I’m leaving it for now.
I’m really making some great novel progress and some headway into post-Clarion life. Today is a “sort stuff out” day, to deal with all the little pieces of paper that need to be filed and stuff like that. Not my favorite activity, but something that needs doing.

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Well, I’ve been chugging along and happy with my progress. My secondary character has taken to complicating the plot unduly, which is always wonderful (tends to happen in my work about 2/3 of the way through, so he’s right on schedule). In my case, I learn about my characters by writing about them — eventually they come around and talk on their own accord. I think it’s a bit like people being camera-shy at first when they’re being filmed all the time. Eventually, they get over it.

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Up to 31 pages on the novel. Am going out to breakfast in a few minutes as a reward for progress. Yay.
It’s not me struggling either — I have genuinely built up more steam and enthusiasm now that I’m 75k into the work.
I woke up this morning, believing I had jury duty, but I’d checked the information for the wrong courthouse. So I’m all dressed up with nowhere to go.

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