Saturday, December 27, 2008

After Christmas Update

Still hobblin' around, but I'm mobile. Feet hurt, but I'm grateful I have them.

The Boys & Girls Club was dead Friday--aside from a few high school and college-age basketball players who spent their time in the gym, we had only one Club member show up, and she was there just the last two hours.

A fellow staff person suggested I wheel around in my office chair, but I was tired of all the sitting I've been forced into the past few days, so I did a few little chores--sometimes on crutches, sometimes without--and eventually used some of the down time to type a scene for a science fiction piece. Right now, I'm regretting all the time on my feet.

My younger brother and his family will arrive late Saturday from Ohio for their Christmas visit. That means I have to be domestic, and clean the house.

On Christmas Day, my dad and I learned we could actually concoct an almost-traditional dinner between the two of us, and it tasted pretty good, too.

I've been having doubts about the big fantasy novel I've been working on for a few years. Seems like I may have spent those years merely in practice on a manuscript that will very likely never be read by anyone but my family and closest friends. But practice is practice, and honing one's craft is never time spent in vain.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, glad you are better! I know what you mean about writing practice-there's some of my fiction that will never see the light of day. But maybe it will: I just need to get myself up to the job of rewrites. Don't give up on DR and related works! They're good, and I think you'd have an audience for them.

Eaglewing said...

Glad you're feeling better and had a good Christmas. Enjoy the family visit.

Good luck with your novels, whatever you decide to do with them. At least you're writing and like you said, that's never a bad thing.

Jeff Draper said...

I've had a couple of different novel attempts go 300 pages and then fall apart. Every time it happened I learned something new about plotting and structure.

Keanan Brand said...

Jade - Thanks for the encouragement. I'm just looking at my stuff like a squinty-eyed critic with dyspepsia, and nothing looks good right now.

Eagle - Thanks! Some days, I read my stuff and I'm brilliant; other days, I'm the worst writer on the planet. As they say on Farscape, "Wait for the wheel."

Jeff - I have ancient notebooks, some dating back to junior high, that are full of failed novel attempts. Sometimes, I find old material that has good bones, and I can resurrect it. Those are good days.