Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Something is better than nothing

It seems like I will never catch up, but I will, soon, I keep telling myself. And I'm happy with the quick 700 words I rushed out this morning between tax returns, 700 words of the new story Molly and I are writing together! Very, very exciting. A Turkish post-apocalyptic Lovecraft-inspired thing, which could still go many directions. But 700 words is good for me these days. Soon, it will be many more.

Over the weekend, I finished "Seedlings." (Yes, the title keeps morphing slightly...) A little longer than I'd hoped for, about 8,200 words, but I think it can be cut down, too. I'm fairly confident in the structure, although it may follow the "rules" too much, which I've been thinking about lately. There are several formulas one can learn/follow in writing a short that will work, but if the rules are followed too closely, the short is predictable and not nearly as exciting as it could be (and this is, of course, taking into account that the plot actually holds weight and the writing is excellent, etc.). And then there are the stories that follow the rules, but do it so effortlessly and carefully that I sit and gape as I read, completely pulled in, and by the end I wonder what how the author managed to do that. Those are the kinds of stories I want to write (and read, for that matter). I suppose once you know the rules inside and out, then you can play with them more, and weave them into something different and new. I'm not quite there yet, but hopefully sooner rather than later, and "Seedlings" is a good place to start.

I stumbled upon a bit of a horrifying site this afternoon, horrifying and inspiring. Fairy tales get dumbed down too easily, but these pictures do the opposite, and really bring out the gruesome.

An Owomoyela's "All That Touches the Air" is up on Lightspeed this week - it gets better every time I read it. An excellent alien world.

Reading: I'm about a fifth? a sixth? through the second Rothfuss book. Egads, it's long. I'm not sure I'd be able to keep reading if it weren't for the alchemy details, and my wanting to know what will happen with Kvothe and Denna. There are just so many other books to read, and all of them so important!

It's getting hot here already. Over 85 degrees today, and windy as hell. I'm not impressed. And I desperately want a cupcake, which helps nothing. Or, that new Ben & Jerry's peanut butter kerfluffle (or something) ice cream, which is second only to Oberweiss' chocolate peanut butter, which I miss dreadfully.

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The Anywhere but Earth table of contents is posted! "Lisse" is near the end, which is interesting...I can't wait to read these other stories!