I promised I’m going to write. So I figured I’d let you guys know what writing-stuffs I’m working on / conceptualizing.
I’m still trying to finish the “memoir.” At 30,000 words I think I’m about 2/3rds of the way there. It seems unclear to me what the length of that kind of work “should” be, but one of my author friends encouraged me to just write until the story was done and not worry about the word count. That’s somewhat hard to do when the book is about you (I sure as hell hope there’s no “done” with that!) but I feel like I have a good idea of what there is left that I want to talk about in there, so we’ll see. If I could finish the draft by the end summer I’ll be happy. That’s be 2 two years in the making, but for the first full length piece I’ve done, and with my busy life, I’ll feel pretty good if I can hit that goal. The jury is, of course, still out on whether I will achieve that.
I’ve also got ideas for some fiction stuff. I talk in the book I’m currently writing about how I stopped writing for a long time because all I was writing was fiction and I think I kinda suck at it. But I have a few ideas so I’m thinking of giving it another try.
The first would actually be an expansion of a short story I wrote. I had a few bookworm friends read it years ago when I first wrote it and they were pretty “meh” about it. But then that author friend of mine read it and liked it. His main comment was that he liked it enough that it was a disappointment that it was so short and all exposition within the main character’s head. So I may give it a try. It will be interesting to see how it works out because while I do have ideas for how I would expand it, it’s more of a sci-fi or fantasy genre depending on how I decide to spin it, which I haven’t really been into of late. It will be interesting to try and write in a style I haven’t really be reading for a few years.
My other idea is more along the “superhero” / adventure / pulp end of things. I love RPGs and one of the games I really enjoy is Evil Hat’s Spirit of the Century. It’s a very pulpy action type setting, kind of Indian Jones-esque. Having played many times, I’ve got a kick ass female character I adore and would love to make into a main character in a book. And I’ve gotten to know a lot of my fellow players’ characters too, so I think there is something there. I’ve run three different sessions of the game so I even have plots already outlined that I could pull from . The main challenge will be changing it up enough, developing my own world with a pulpy feel, that I am not being too referential to the game since I enjoy NOT being sued for copyright infringement.
I’ve also considered writing another memoir. The process of starting a family was a 10 year long ordeal for Davie and I, and it’s a story I may want to tell. My main hesitation on that is that I’d rather wait until my son is older and can weigh in. I don’t want to tell his story if he doesn’t want it told and there’s no point in working on something that won’t see the light of day.
I dream of having enough artistic talent to write a comic strip, as well. I have this idea I’d love to try out but my artistic skills are pretty much zero. I’ve considered trying out some sketches – the style I am interested is quite simple – more like Sarah Anderson or Allie Brosh – so it might be worth a try. My main concern is I get easily frustrated, and I’m worried that if I try and I can’t make it work that it will be worse than just leaving it in my head (thanks depression and anxiety, you are SOOO awesome.)
So that’s about it for now. Heaven only know (doubts actually) that most of this will find its way onto any piece of paper or any screen, but feeling like I HAVE ideas, that I’m putting things down here, that I’m making notes on ideas as I think of them, that there is a light at the end of the tunnel with finishing my current book – most of the time that really helps with the depression. Right now it’s the actual DOING of something I love, of not quitting, that’s making me feel like I’m not completely failing, helps push back the depression and anxiety just a little. Maybe I really do just need to write my way out. (credit LMM et al.)
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