Blame the husband.
THE DAY
So, in the course of gluing together a family member yesterday, that person also expressed disappointment over not being able to read the book I was working on.
Which got me to thinking.
It helps to have a day or so to let things simmer and percolate. I, too, felt regret but mainly because I’d spent so much bloody time on the thing only to run into a dead-end. Entirely my fault: I have always outlined, as I said before.
So the husband and I were talking this morning, and he suggested that I might consider doing two outlines at once: the new book I’d been thinking about and the redraft of the one I had been working on. Then pick the one you’re most excited about when you’re done, he said. But then he also added that I shouldn’t write word one until the outline is completely finished. Don’t get impatient, he said.
He does know me well.
His idea was pretty interesting, too. I know writers who work on novels during the week and short stories on weekends; I’ve spoken to one writer who wrote an adult novel in the morning and a YA in the afternoon (both published, famous dude in YA circles).
Writers try all sorts of tricks to keep themselves motivated and the stories fresh. So since the husband’s idea had the virtue of never having been tried…well, why not? What’s the worst that can happen? I can’t be any more stuck than I am now.
So that was the idea: one book this morning, one this afternoon. Didn’t quite work out that way. That is, I got my five chapters outlined for one book, but I was also interrupted by contractors and then the gym and meeting up with a friend for coffee. The latter should still have left me enough time except I blasted out of here without all the requisite clothes, and because everything is so bloody far away here, there was no way to simply turn around, grab what I needed, and then still be on time for coffee. So my friend and I ended up meeting early and still yakking until late. (Though she did make the observation that six months ago, I was despairing, and here, I was telling her about two books I was outlining and two more stories I’d like to do and for which I’m still doing a ton of reading.)
Then it was to the gym, then blast home, make dinner–which I’ve just cleaned up–and now it’s getting late and almost time for bed.
So, nu…tomorrow, I’ll put this great, novel plan into action. But I’m kinda stoked to see what will happen.
On a totally different note, there was a very silly op-ed today in the New York Times that you can read here. As I said on Facebook, it’s an interesting piece and nicely spells out some of the problems for both parties, but–IMHO, and I could be wrong–the column gets Democrats and the Sanders votes dead wrong.
First off, Clinton’s Wall Street speeches and such? Pure foolishness. Who gives a flip? I don’t think anyone truly cares about that. Policy changes…sure. People have this perception that she’s dishonest and can’t be trusted. Releasing transcripts of speeches won’t change that, and it has certainly NEVER been the first thing anyone has EVER said (to me, at any rate) about why Clinton is problematic.
Second–and I hate to say it, but history does kinda bear this out–I don’t see many, if ANY, of Sanders’s supporters flipping to become Republicans for ANY of those candidates. Beyond the fact that Trump’s and Sanders’s messages are completely different (if both populist), that’s just ludicrous. (Oh, all right, maybe not totally: I can see the angry white blue-collar guys going both ways.) Still, it suggests that whoever wrote this hasn’t been paying attention. Yes, Sanders is a populist, but he’s gotten mostly YOUNG folks involved, and the reality is that younger voters frequently do no show up to vote. I’m sorry, but that’s just true (and I actually volunteered to work for a campaign and know this for a fact). Double-ditto this if their candidate isn’t on the ballot. They will just sit on their hands. The people who turn out to vote are the very, very excited (read: angry) voters and the elderly. (It’s the same thing for community things. I’ve gone to a couple civic association things here where there are some fairly important issues being discussed. The elderly residents show up; the younger people–parents with kids–don’t. We were just about the youngest people in the crowd. Which means that it’s the elderly folks who are making the decisions.)
So this piece is interesting but not terrifically well reasoned on the Dems’ side. Unless I’ve miscalculated how many angry white blue-collar folks are out there and willing to jump ship from the Dems to Trump.
The Republican stuff, though . . . they got that right. Be interesting to see if Republicans circle the wagons around Trump or if former candidates pull a Ben Carson or Chris Christie and endorse the guy. If you look at the results of all the primaries, Trump is pulling a plurality. That’s not the same as a majority.
OTOH, Trump is a liar; he’s a showman and saying what’s expedient. Doesn’t mean I like it or he doesn’t make me really uneasy because I can see him endorsing policies just to keep everyone loving him. But the difference between him and Cruz is that Cruz believes what he’s saying.
On yet another–and totally literary note–a play, “The Book of Sir Thomas More,” for which Shakespeare apparently penned a small portion was released today by the British Museum. While that’s lovely…get real: who can read Will’s handwriting? I think the reason the play’s making a splash, though, is the timeliness of the message: More’s making this impassioned speech for people not to be afraid of the thousands of Huguenots flooding into England and to accept them just as folks nowadays are getting all worked up over the Syrians and other refugees pouring into Europe. OTOH, I’m not sure that anyone had to worry about ISIS back then either. Still, interesting, and even more so when Sir Ian McKellan reads:
WRITING OUT LOUD
DEAD MOUNTAIN (placeholder title)
Day 1: 1500 (outline)
Day 2: 0 (outline)
Day 3: 0 (outline)
UNTITLED SF BOOK
(Previously had 1500 in outline)
Day 1: 2400 (outline)
Blog Post: 1140
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What I’m Watching:
Bosch. This is growing on me like a fungus.
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What I’m Reading:
Not a blessed thing today. Too busy. Probably a few pages of the Bent bio before bed. Or about the Klondike gold rush. Just depends. Pretty beat.
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What I’m Listening to:
Half an ear on the NCAA playoffs. I like the noise.
