Well, I've been prodded sufficiently to make at least a token entry . . .

Not much happening over the last couple of weeks around here, just finishing a couple of new stories--both of which need major revisions--and getting ready for NORWESCON.

Not to bore the non-writers out there who read this, but I've hit one of those lulls in my writing where it seems that everything I commit to paper is garbage. Now, before any of you start with the reassurances, I know that it isn't really garbage. It just feels that way.

Writing is hard. Particularly short stories. There are so many elements to consider, so many chains of logic to contend with, and if you screw up just one of them, the story fails. So you wrestle and fight and pound and hope when its all over, you've covered your bases and something simple doesn't completely derail the story you are trying to tell.

Sometimes, its easy. There are stories I've sold to great markets that just jumped onto the page in a couple of hours and needed no rewrites whatsoever. Others, I've been re-writing since 1988, trying to get the story down correctly.

This last month, it just seems that nothing's working. There's always that fatal flaw that jumps into the work, or there's one obvious element that gets neglected.

And the only way to get through the phase is by writing more.

So, that's what I'll do. Eventually, I'll get it right.

You probably won't hear from me again until after the weekend. I've got four critiques, two panels, two readings and an interview to prepare for before Thursday so I'll be very busy.

Until next,

Joseph Haines, signing off from The Edge of The Abyss.