So much for restarting this blog, huh?
I didn't write anything all December. And it's not that there wasn't anything to write about. The whole family took our first trip to Chicago, which was really enjoyable. And there's been plenty of stuff happening in the news. But I just haven't taken the time to actually write in this blog. When I do sit down, I want to work on my novel, so that's what I've been doing.
And how has that been going? Fairly well. The goal I set for myself, as I mentioned last month, was to write at least 1,000 words a day six days a week. Other than the week we were in Chicago, I have managed to do just that. And progress has been steady but slow.
On November 30, the day of my last post, I had written 11,362 words (36 pages) and I was in the middle of chapter three. Today I have written 39,113 words (118 pages), and I'm in the middle of chapter seven.
And it's time to get started on word 39,114.
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Progress on my Novel: November 30
Wow! I knew when I restarted this blog that I wasn't going to be writing every day, but I wrote much less in November than I imagined I would.
It's not that there isn't anything to write about. Just yesterday, in fact, there were the firings of Matt Lauer and Garrison Keillor, more ICBM tests from North Korea, a President who decries fake news tweeting three untrue, racist videos, a Republican plan to cut taxes (and simultaneously increase the national debt), and the ongoing net neutrality battle. That's fodder for a week's worth of blog posts right there!
No, it's not that I'm lacking anything to write about; it's that I planned to use this blog as a sort of writing practice or a warm up before working on my novel, and so far that hasn't really been an issue. I'm only writing today, in fact, because I said last month that I'd write an update on the last day of each month.
This time last month I was still in the pre-writing phase, frustrated that I was stuck on a year 2017-2073 timeline, which I originally thought would be a page and have maybe 12-15 bulleted items on it, but on October 31 had 43 bulleted items and still had a long way to go. I guessed that I'd finish it by November 7 and then take another week to write an outline, hoping to start actually writing the novel by November 15.
In the end, though, I didn't finish the timeline itself until mid-November, and my 12-15 bulleted item list ended up being 187 bulleted items, each dated to the day. The total document is 22 single spaced pages and just short of 12,000 words long. I'm not complaining, though. The process was absolutely essential, and some of the plot points that were hazy in my head have gelled now thanks to this process. Probably more than half of what is mentioned in that document will never make it in to the novel, but that's okay: If the novel ever actually gets published and becomes successful, there's material there for two or three prequel novels.
I then created an outline for the events in the novel. As expected, that took me about a week, and it is much briefer than the timeline. The outline is four pages total, and it's only about 1,800 words. It's not even in complete sentences.
I started actually writing the novel on November 21. My goal is to write six days a week and to write at a pace of at least 1,000 words per day. I have managed to do that, and yesterday I finished chapter two of the novel, which I'm guessing--based on my outline--will be 26 chapters in length (though I may, in the end, find a chapter much longer than I was anticipating and need to split it, or I might find a need to combine two chapters). In any event, with two chapters written at about 4,500 words each, the novel should end up about 117,000 words in length. Which is--I've read--close to the maximum length a first time author's novel should be. A 117,000 word novel is about 390 pages in length. I may have some cutting to do.
Anyway, that's where I am.
It's not that there isn't anything to write about. Just yesterday, in fact, there were the firings of Matt Lauer and Garrison Keillor, more ICBM tests from North Korea, a President who decries fake news tweeting three untrue, racist videos, a Republican plan to cut taxes (and simultaneously increase the national debt), and the ongoing net neutrality battle. That's fodder for a week's worth of blog posts right there!
No, it's not that I'm lacking anything to write about; it's that I planned to use this blog as a sort of writing practice or a warm up before working on my novel, and so far that hasn't really been an issue. I'm only writing today, in fact, because I said last month that I'd write an update on the last day of each month.
This time last month I was still in the pre-writing phase, frustrated that I was stuck on a year 2017-2073 timeline, which I originally thought would be a page and have maybe 12-15 bulleted items on it, but on October 31 had 43 bulleted items and still had a long way to go. I guessed that I'd finish it by November 7 and then take another week to write an outline, hoping to start actually writing the novel by November 15.
In the end, though, I didn't finish the timeline itself until mid-November, and my 12-15 bulleted item list ended up being 187 bulleted items, each dated to the day. The total document is 22 single spaced pages and just short of 12,000 words long. I'm not complaining, though. The process was absolutely essential, and some of the plot points that were hazy in my head have gelled now thanks to this process. Probably more than half of what is mentioned in that document will never make it in to the novel, but that's okay: If the novel ever actually gets published and becomes successful, there's material there for two or three prequel novels.
I then created an outline for the events in the novel. As expected, that took me about a week, and it is much briefer than the timeline. The outline is four pages total, and it's only about 1,800 words. It's not even in complete sentences.
I started actually writing the novel on November 21. My goal is to write six days a week and to write at a pace of at least 1,000 words per day. I have managed to do that, and yesterday I finished chapter two of the novel, which I'm guessing--based on my outline--will be 26 chapters in length (though I may, in the end, find a chapter much longer than I was anticipating and need to split it, or I might find a need to combine two chapters). In any event, with two chapters written at about 4,500 words each, the novel should end up about 117,000 words in length. Which is--I've read--close to the maximum length a first time author's novel should be. A 117,000 word novel is about 390 pages in length. I may have some cutting to do.
Anyway, that's where I am.
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Harvey Weinstein and Music
I was thinking about Harvey Weinstein, Roy Moore, Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K., and all of the other people who've been accused of sexual harassment or assault the other day, and it occurred to me that there's maybe one person in the world who's really happy about all of these recent allegations: Roman Polanski. I'm sure he's in Europe somewhere, pointing at the TV screen and saying to his friends, "You See! I'm not so bad! I'm just like all the rest!"
I'm trying to be funny, I guess, with that, and maybe I shouldn't. Maybe there's nothing funny to say about sexual predation. But I was thinking about Roman Polanski because I was thinking about the difference between 2017 and the 1970's and 1980's. We've come a long way. Back then, the kind of behavior that is getting people fired from their jobs and blackballed was celebrated in hit songs. I'm not kidding. Check out these songs below, which should be on every pedophile's .MP3 playlist.
First, from the rock band that was the most popular rock band among middle school students in the late 1970's/early 1980's, here's a song about an adult celebrating getting a minor drunk and having sex with her, despite her parents' objections (and though I don't assume this to be necessarily autobiographical, it's interesting to note that Dennis DeYoung was 29 years old when this song was published in 1976):
That's a non-single from a big band, not something you might have heard before. But here's one of the biggest songs of the 1970's, one that declares that the speaker always "gets it up for the touch of the younger kind":
And lest you think this was a seventies phenomenon only, here's a song from the 80's hair band Winger. Again, though it isn't necessarily autobiographical, Kip Winger was 27 when this song was released in 1988.
And who can forget the creepiest, sleaziest song of them all? I swear, this one makes me feel gross just listening to it. The video makes it even worse. Oh, and holy crap! I just looked on Wikipedia. Benny Mardones was THIRTY-FOUR YEARS OLD when this song came out in 1980. Makes that scene at the window in the video even more disturbing!
What's my point? Nothing, really. I just was thinking about how far we've come since the 1970's. And though we certainly shouldn't forgive the heinous behavior of the people being accused, it's interesting that these may have been some of the songs they listened to in their youth.
I'm trying to be funny, I guess, with that, and maybe I shouldn't. Maybe there's nothing funny to say about sexual predation. But I was thinking about Roman Polanski because I was thinking about the difference between 2017 and the 1970's and 1980's. We've come a long way. Back then, the kind of behavior that is getting people fired from their jobs and blackballed was celebrated in hit songs. I'm not kidding. Check out these songs below, which should be on every pedophile's .MP3 playlist.
First, from the rock band that was the most popular rock band among middle school students in the late 1970's/early 1980's, here's a song about an adult celebrating getting a minor drunk and having sex with her, despite her parents' objections (and though I don't assume this to be necessarily autobiographical, it's interesting to note that Dennis DeYoung was 29 years old when this song was published in 1976):
That's a non-single from a big band, not something you might have heard before. But here's one of the biggest songs of the 1970's, one that declares that the speaker always "gets it up for the touch of the younger kind":
And lest you think this was a seventies phenomenon only, here's a song from the 80's hair band Winger. Again, though it isn't necessarily autobiographical, Kip Winger was 27 when this song was released in 1988.
And who can forget the creepiest, sleaziest song of them all? I swear, this one makes me feel gross just listening to it. The video makes it even worse. Oh, and holy crap! I just looked on Wikipedia. Benny Mardones was THIRTY-FOUR YEARS OLD when this song came out in 1980. Makes that scene at the window in the video even more disturbing!
What's my point? Nothing, really. I just was thinking about how far we've come since the 1970's. And though we certainly shouldn't forgive the heinous behavior of the people being accused, it's interesting that these may have been some of the songs they listened to in their youth.
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