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Tag: Writers Block

The bug has hit…

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Storyboarding out the next five additions to my interconnected space short stories. It has been more than six months since I have contributed to the series, besides a one off short I released yesterday, which ultimately seemed to dislodge some cobwebs and allow me, mentally, to align my thoughts and make a coherent story emerge out of my head. But don’t worry, my themes of isolation, confusion, future technology are all going to be well represented. I looked over my notes which kept on getting longer and longer and realized that instead of one ridiculous seven thousand word dump of text, I could break it down into smaller and more manageable pieces and explore each new chapter of the story with aplomb. I had tried several times over the last half of 2020 to plot out some new work and the dastardly covid fugue, or pandemic fatigue was making that near impossible. I don’t know how long this kick in the pants will last but I feel better all ready.

Plot outline for new chapters.

I’m guessing this new literary kick started because I now have three pounds of clay on my desk with a new armature built, and designs for several wood working projects for my wife and children ready to start. We’re into a new lockdown with nowhere to go, so I guess this is how I will try to remain sane with the whole family home 24/7 , and the coldest stretch of the year upon our doorstep keeping us indoors for much of the day. Isolation was far simpler when you could just go swimming in the sunshine to while away a few hours each and everyday. Not so much fun when it gets down to minus twenty degrees with the windchill. Anyway, not that I have an enormous readership, or that there are more than a handful who have read all of the interconnected series from cover to cover, but I’ll be back at it soon enough. I hope you’ll join the returning cast and crew of The Company: A Series of Interconnected Short Stories.

Don’t get discouraged if I pepper in some non-fiction(ish) one off stories in amongst the serialized stuff. Some times my kids do funny or relatable stuff that makes for humorous micro short stories. Wheels up!

Starting to get annoyed with myself…

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After a very strong start to the year for creative writing I am finding it damn near impossible to formulate any kind of coherent story in my mind that I could even try to commit to paper. Went back through some of my micro short stories to try and jog something free, and it just isn’t happening. Which makes me both sad and angry. Angry because I have the time to write at this point in my life, and I’m not really doing so, and sad because I had thought back in early 2020 that I might actually crack 100,000 words of creative writing this year. Not that just shy of 60,000 is terrible, but I haven’t produced anything of note in several months. Not only that but I haven’t sculpted much of anything this year either, not completed either of the two model kits I assembled. Read fewer books this year, and haven’t watched anywhere near as many new films (the pandemic hit Hollywood, so that isn’t really a surprise). But still, the void can be felt. No painting to speak of either. Have done a few minor wood working projects so I’ll count that as a plus, but now that we’re into December the likelyhood that any items will get finished or be good enough to give as gifts are slim to none. As a creatively minded person I have very little personal work to show over the last five months. Did some exciting paid work, which I am proud of, but beyond that, very disappointed in my output and subsequent apathy. Not going to sit and stare at empty paper or screens as that doesn’t help. Tomorrow is a new day, and perhaps I’ll clue in to something I can work with then.

Middle of October… so soon?

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Well in all honesty I did not get a whole lot done with my children’s story. I wrote out two separate drafts and then it has just sat languishing in my writing folder for most of the calendar year. But on the upside I managed to write nearly 60,000 words worth of alternate short stories. This I will consider to be a win. I don’t know if I will ever do that much writing again. It was certainly fun, and I feel like I said just about everything I had to say up to that point. Perhaps after some distance I will want to say a little ditty about the great pause, the unending, yet ceaseless pandemic shut down. I have really had to fight between feeling like I can do all the things, and struggling to find the will to do pretty much anything. Very strange. It’s been a very odd year. To the fifteen people who consistently read my series of interconnected short stories, thank you very much. I have no idea whether you liked it or not, or if it said anything to you that you felt was worthwhile, but I really had a great time putting it together. Could have been a completely different group of fifteen people who read them, with no idea it was a continuing thread with interlinked characters, and alternating points of view. I really don’t know. Some of them got a fair few likes, and some passed quietly into the night and died on impact.

That’s what I have to say about that for now. Hope you are all alive, healthy and safe, as we head into deep autumn and then the long period of deep cold. Those short days and longer nights are looming ahead of us on the horizon. Dress warm. Use your masks and wash those dirty god damned hands!