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gabriel
Love and ferrets and pretending to be a writer.

2003-05-31 8:49 AM
What to do with Landlady?

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Mood:
lightheaded from detoxifying

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Reading: Pocket Encyclopedia of Dieting and Weight Loss, published by e-diets.com
Weather: cloudy and cool
The ferret is: on her back digging at the cupboard door in hopes of checking out the garbage

I have this story I wrote awhile back, and it's a good story. The main character doesn't change much, so some have told me that they don't "get it." To that I say, "It's a story, okay?" It's funny, and I like it and most of the people who have read it think it's weird, which is a big plus. If I reread a story I wrote and laugh or cry, that's a good story. This one makes me grin. It's about a hostile, reclusive sort of person who meets an even more reclusive person who has a bizarre opinion of water.

So. What do I do with it now? I need to revise it a little bit, then send it off somewhere. Realms of Fantasy, maybe? Shawna McCarthy liked this other story I wrote a lot. Maybe I should polish up that one, "A Husband Who Deserved to be Shot," first, instead of "Landlady," and send it in. I write a lot more than I submit anywhere, but I have had some stuff published, so I know it's worth the effort. It's also my turn to turn out a stroy for the anthology. Its theme is species interaction that goes beyond first contact. Now there's a title for you, _Beyond First Contact._ I like it.

Effort. Is that my problem? Or is it fear of failure? Or fear of success? I am also avoiding writing a novel; I had a couple of disappointments in that area. Not from rejection by publishers, because I never got that far, but from losing the books partweay through.. I had them stored in dorky places, and they have disappeared. I could probably rewrite, I have a few notes, but I don't have the heart to. Then the novel I've begun is sort of stuck. I have decided to revamp a character, but I like his first scene, whcih doesn't have anything to do with his occupation that i Have changed hoim to, and .... Well, crap.

Another thing that frightens me about writing a novel is that I get totally absorbed in it and forget basic survival stuff. Now, the loss of sleep takes care of itself when I lapse into unconsciousness, and the lack of food is no problem since I could survive on my abundant stored resources for many moons, but if I forget to go to work, I'm in deep shit.

Excuses. Fear. Laziness. I have this history of beginning things and not finishing them. I have had three books published, then just stopped submitting them, or even finishing them. One publisher I don't share philosophies with any more, and don't want to write for them, and this other outfit who has a great guy at the helm (Hi, Bob!) doesn't seem to sell any books because of problems with international money stuff. I fear starting with another publisher. With the first one I mentioned there was money -- a little bit. Better than I might make with a conventional publisher. (It is work for hire, a thing some people snub, but I love getting money in the mail, no matter how much it is or isn't.)

Writer's block? Laziness. I don't know. Some of both, maybe. But i have never respected people with writer's block. Who would respect someone with, say, fireman's block? Nurse's block? You just get yourself busy and do what you do, right? Just get on with it and stop screwing around. I don't know where to start, though. I have so many projects lying around. Do I do an old one? Or a new one?

Jim Kelly (James Patrick Kelly), one of the instructors at Clarion, told us to revise one, send it off, then write a new one. An old one, a new one. I think that's what he said. I'll have to read back through my notes and make sure. If I can find my notes.

See how I am?

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:: JOURNAL HOME :: SUBSCRIBE TO THIS JOURNAL :: Click on Kathy Gabriel and read my stories :: 2-in-1 Romance by me (but the back cover's misspelled!. grrrrr.) :: November is National Novel Writing Month! :: The Feel Good Manual - happiness can be learned :: Mugs with the wet ferret :: Fractured Frugal Frieds - the best frugality site around :: The ferrets, and other pics by a talented local (very local) photographer :: Kettins_Bob's journal :: Clarion SF & F writing workshop :: Genevieve's journal (Clarion classmate) :: Phil's website (Clarion classmate) :: Nnedi Okorafor's blog (Clarion classmate) :: Online magnetic poetry :: Dave's interactive html tutorial :: Make a snowflake here - WARNING: Addictive! ::