I tend to write this blog as conversationally as I can — like I’m talking to a friend. So even though I’m probably not talking to too many people (I really don’t know how many visitors I get because I’ve never set up that JetPack thing) I figured I’ll continue in this style and drop a quick note about my weekend.
Every year a group of friends heads up to northern Wisconsin for a weekend of playing music and enjoying the water (if it’s warm) and the colors (if it’s late enough and conditions are favorable) and eating and drinking and just relaxing. This past weekend was that weekend, and I went up there for the first time in about 4 years. Besides playing (I do keyboards, guitar and a bit of drums) I took some time to write. Sometimes I even got in a couple of hours of writing in the day.
I got in enough writing that I actually finished a YA/MG novel I started with my son a long time ago. As I reread, I note places that need to be filled in, but I haven’t even started with that. I’m just trying to get a sense of whether the story holds together.
It’s interesting that two of the projects I’ve finished are two of my longest projects and both started in my son’s imagination — not in my own imagination. I honestly think that his imagination is a lot better than mine. Whenever I hit a snag, I’d ask him where it was going. He’d sometimes come up with something so out-there and off-course that I’d veto it. But usually he’d give me a sense of what he saw happening and it would work. He’ll be getting co-writing credits on both of these, though, due to the nature of some of my horror, I may use a different name for this stuff. It’s a complete departure from the horror I write. Not sure I want any overlap on readership. I won’t keep either a secret. The pen-name will have a menu header up at the top, I think, and I’ll post something every time I add a page to it, but I’ll try to keep them as separate as I can.
Oh, and we watched a Cubs loss and a Cubs victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. After two more victories at home, we’ve vanquished the Cards and we’re in the NLCS for the first time since 2003, and that was the first time in history that we’d been in that position. Can’t wait to see if Back To The Future 2 was accurate in its prediction!
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Hi Scott,
I feel for you, man. The Cubs are behind 0-2 with the Mets. Of course, the latter haven’t done well in Chicago. They say it’s a series when the first road game is won. We’ll see how the Mets do tonight. I think either team deserves it in the sense they’re not often in post-season play.
Always grab writing time when you can. Many of my what-ifs, plot and character ideas, and possible settings were written on Peet’s napkins (I’m not a Starbucks fan) while my wife was window shopping. Sometimes the characters were even in Peet’s! I’m not sure I ever finished anything that way, though. Just not enough time…or caffeine. 😉
r/Steve
Well, it’s over now for the Cubs for 2015, but the good news is that I think they’re going to be in the playoff picture for at least a few years to come. They couldn’t hit the Mets’ great young arms (Well, DeGrom (sp?) isn’t that young, but those other guys…?) and their best pitchers couldn’t keep the Mets’ hitters off the board, so the better team won.
I got in a couple hours of writing on Friday and a couple more on Saturday, and I was close to the end on that particular story. It’s MG/YA, and I think it’s entertaining. I’m in writing phase on a long version of ODD MAN OUT right now (up to about 12K words) and editing phase of the YA novel (don’t have a title yet…). Having fun with both of them…