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December 18, 2000
7:05 a.m.
It's cold as hibernating bear snot here. How cold is that? Yeech. Let's just say I had to take a hair dryer to the hot water pipes in order to get a shower this morning--something my co-workers will probably appreciate me doing today more than anyone else--except, of course, Lisa and Brigid, who have to get their showers after me. Enough of life on the rugged frontier. No one comes here to listen to that stuff, right? Made good progress in getting the novel organized and started. It's still very much in that anxious early period where it feels like you're at the center of a huge field of snow. The possibilities are endless, and it's so perfect you don't want to take a step for fear of breaking the white plane of perfection. Yet you still have to take steps or nothing gets done. So, I've been working on pacing, and on a relationship. I put together a character workbook, a place where I can keep important information about all my characters on their own little tabs. I've been fleshing out my network chart that serves as my outline, though I think any college English professor would blanch at it. I put about 2,000 new words down yesterday, and they felt pretty good. For me, right now, it's all about getting comfortable with myself behind the keyboard. It's all about tricking myself into just playing with words. Try this word, I say. Then, how about this one? That sounds pretty good--almost like what that character would say if she were a real person, you know? This is not rocket science. You know that, right? This is not hard. This I is not a hardship. Writing is easy. It's a privilege, almost. In my spare time, I'm reading a book titled "Science Odyssey." It's a companion to a PBS series, I think. It's split into five sections, and basically takes the reader through the last 100 years of invention and learning that the human race has accomplished. The book itself is fascinating. But the introduction is what has sold it for me. The introduction was written by Charles Kuralt in 1997. In it, he describes life in his depression era childhood. To him, as a boy, it was glorious. But as he looks at it from his parents' and grandparents' point of view, and sees how physically back breaking their lives were, he brings true focus to the events the book discusses. Suddenly, playing with words doesn't seem so difficult at all.   I also managed to re-package the content of my e-mail folders over the weekend. No thanks to Netscape itself. Their e-mail based technical support is worth exactly what you pay for it--which is nothing. I would just as soon have someone say "You're on your own" than specifically say they will answer your questions, then leave you hanging. I'm a big boy. I can figure it out...or die trying, anyway. Grumble. Still working on the address book. Have a great day.  One step at a time... Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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On laundry day, my grandmother used a hoe handle to stir a steaming mess of underwear and overalls and lye soap in a big black pot over an outdoor fire. Charles Kuralt Introduction to "Science Odyssey" |
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