A jet in the background flies someplace, but I remain grounded

[gurdonark]

Last night we rented the DVD 'Kissing Jessica Stein', a sweet, small movie about the problems of relationship and connection. I wish, just once, that a protagonist would be a poseur hobby artist with no skills rather than a gifted artist just waiting to be appreciated, but I suppose that's a minor quibble.

Then for some reason, I stayed up from midnight to two watching the History Channel showing of "The Battle of the Bulge". It's a good watch, but it's pretty much in the "war movie" mold, right down to Telly Savalas as the wheeler-dealer cynical black market peddler who turns out to have a heart and "gets religion" about the importance of fighting Germans.

I got a fair bit of work done yesterday, and went for a short walk in the Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve. Think deep, shady woods, with hedge apples, those green "fruits" the size of bocce balls, strewn here and there. I was intrigued to see both butterflies and blooming susan flowers in November, on a warm, gorgeous, if slightly windy day.

Today I go to a Denny's in Grapevine (one of the 'mid-cities' between Dallas and Fort Worth) for a meeting of the nanowrimo folks. I'm eager to hear about everyone's novel.
I should finish mine this evening. I am quite exhausted by the odd triple threat of hard work, hard drafting trying to finish a novel in ten days, and pointless late night Hollywood war epics. But soon the novel will be done, and a huge space of rest in my schedule will open.
I keep reading posts in the nanowrimo community to the effect that many stories will not be "over" in 50,000 words.
But I have reached the firm assurance that my story was "over" tens of thousands of words ago, and now I am just finishing the 50,500 word goal I have set myself.
I will keep my promise to myself of self-publishing, and plan to spend the rest of the month and the month of December revising, with a soft goal of getting it off to a print on demand house by year end.

I am still intrigued that I lost my temper on Friday about something at work. I dislike losing my temper. I prefer to travel on an even keel.

I have mailed out all my ebay sales but one. I will mail it out on Monday. Ebay is reasonably worthwhile, but the mailing is such a hassle.

I need a rest, a walk, and a quiet day.

Comments

A rest, a walk, and a quiet day.

[ladyelisa.livejournal.com]

I hope you get that soon.

[voodoukween.livejournal.com]

you really have been working hard, enjoy your quiet, restful day

[uscwriter.livejournal.com]

Yeah for you, Robert! I am so glad you are able to spill words in your story, the way you do in your journal. I am plodding along, and will be happy if I get less words than 50K, if the story is what I want. What nanowrimo has done for me is to get me writing again.
KIM (off to write some more on my story).

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think your way of looking at it is exactly right, Kim. The key is not to make the goal the story, but to make a story your goal.
It's a matter of getting from this process what it is you mean to get, of defining your own game, and then playing it.

[(Anonymous)]

goal, story--story, goal
you make it seem so...bobvious

when if fact chiasmus is confusing

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

But when in the Alice book Tweedledee and Tweedledum point out that "say what you mean" and "mean what you say" are quite different, I always felt a little let down, as if they should be the same!

Heh

[calaf.livejournal.com]

Janeane Garofalo calls that channel you watched The Hitler Channel and most of the time that fits.

Re: Heh

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

People are interested in the struggles of WW II. I think it was a time when one could tell good guys from bad a bit more easily.

[laruth.livejournal.com]

I think the movie 'Kissing Jessica Stein' is just about to be released in Australia. We are definitely behind the times!

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

I looked at my post, and wondered that I called "Kissing Jessica Stein" a sweet movie, which it is, but at the same time a sweet movie with more
salty language than, say, "The Winslow Boy" or "Sleepless in Seattle".

We sometimes don't get Aussie things at all, or years later, so I know what you eman.