Monday 13 July 2009

Previously on 'Random Thought Experiments'...

Blog: I'm fed up of you forgetting me for weeks at a time! It's like you don't care about me!
Skoot: I'm sorry. I've been a twat. I do care about you, honest. Let me make it up to you. I'll start posting at least once a week again.
Blog: *sniff* You... you mean it?
Skoot: I promise.
Blog. Well... okay then.

Skoot: So from today onwards I will write 1,000 words a day without fail.
Audience: Yeah, right...

Jen: *poke* Write a blog entry.
Skoot: Ow! In a bit.
Jen: *poke* Now.
Skoot: I've nothing to write about.
Jen: *poke* Now!
Skoot: Ow! Alright!

Tyler: We've only got fifteen seconds before the bomb blows up!
Skoot: Okay, okay, let's relax. We need to cut a wire.
Tyler: How do you know that?
Skoot: That's how it's done on TV, and TV never lies, right?
Tyler: It lies constantly! Don't you remember...
Skoot: There's no time to remember things! I'm cutting the red wire...

Yeah... as you might have guessed, I suck, and am made of fail. I did do the whole thousand word thing for a couple of days, honest, but then something happened which threw me off track. I won't go into details here, particularly as most of the people reading this will already know, but this has officially become a pattern with me. Stuff Happens, and I respond by downing tools and not doing anything for a few days. With the frequency that Stuff Happens, this isn't the most ideal thing, and I really need to sort myself out so that I can get back in the game.

I'm not going to do another one of those posts where I moan about my writing (or lack thereof) for ages though. I'm beginning to get sick of myself doing that, and if I feel that way I can't imagine what you're thinking. Instead I'm going to take stock of everything I've got going on at the moment.

Running To Stand Still
The novel. It's all a bit stop and start at the moment. I've written at least something on it most nights recently, even if that's not much. It hasn't helped that I've been stuck on how to do a fairly pivotal scene. Now that's out of the way I'm looking to get into a rhythm with writing this thing, with a view to finishing it by November at the latest. But first...

Untitled Pirate Detectives story
The Pirate Detectives is an idea I had about a year or so ago, and dismissed at the time for being just too ludicrous (why on earth would pirates choose to be detectives?). It popped back into my head a week or so ago with a new case for them to solve, and after figuring out a way around the madness inherent in the concept, I figured I'd give it a shot. It's relatively light and fluffy (especially compared to the other stuff I write), it should end up fairly short, and it'll help me get back into the swing of things. I'll finish off writing this before I plunge back into the novel full-time.

Crescent Rising
The thing I haven't talked about on here yet. This is a collaborative project I've started with some friends. It's all gone a bit quiet, which I blame myself for a fair bit as I pretty much disappeared from it, but I'm still interested in picking it up. There are some very interesting ideas going around, and I've love to jump into the world we're creating and have a good play around. That said, it'll probably be a short while before I pick this up, as I'll need to know how it'll fit in with everything else I'm doing.

Random Thought Experiments
This blog. I've been neglecting her a fair bit, and I'm going to turn that around. I'll do my best to post at least once a week from now on. This probably means that as I run out of things to say around writing, I'll move on to other stuff - I have been told that I should try doing some reviews online, though whether that's because people like my rants or they're sick of me forcing them on them I don't know ;).

That's pretty much it. There are a few other things bouncing around my head (like the story that I'll probably end up doing for this year's NaNo), but they're not really big enough to be anything much more than distractions from the more important things. It's certainly enough to be getting on with, now I just need to devote the time to actually getting on with it. Wish me luck!

3 comments:

  1. Good luck! I believe you're too hard on yourself, my dear! The "stuff happens" thing can be very unbalancing and makes it difficult to be motivated about anything that isn't absolutely necessary. But kudos for slogging on even in a small capacity!

    I love the idea of your pirate detectives! I can't wait to hear more about it. (Will Cardigan Ninja be making an appearance? wink wink)

    I hope you will be able to find your rhythm again and feel good about your writing. Although, the writing muse is a fickle bitch, and she often deserts a person when she's needed most. She needs a leash or something to hold her in place.

    Since we are many, many miles apart, please accept this digital hug, as I can't be there to give you a real hug. Um...how to articulate a hug with only text...umm...hmm. HUGS!

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  2. Haha!

    *poke*
    *poke*
    *poke*

    Good to see you updating mister. :) I know what you mean about the "things happening" and getting in the way; part of my week off was spent dealing with stuff rather than writing, which narked me a bit. But I suppose the point is that we still keep on slogging away, 'cause that's what we do. :D

    (I'm hoping to have A Boy of Blood and Clay out of the way before November too- NaNoWriMo, here we come!)

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  3. Thanks for the hugs Brandi. My muse used to be tempted out fairly easily with whiskey, but even that has a trouble coaxing her out lately.

    I don't think Cardigan Ninja will make an appearance in this story - that's another tale altogether ;).

    It's not fair that Stuff keeps happening and throwing us all off our game. We need some way to make sure Stuff stops happening. Perhaps if we were in some form of vacuum...

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