What I'm Writing These Days...

I know it's terrible of me to call myself an author and artist when I've barely completed anything competent yet...but I'm working on it. I dare not tell anyone that I'm actually working on a novel or anything. Those things remain secret I've learned from experience otherwise people think you'll never actually do it. It may take me a while but I'll get through it someday. ;)

I've re-wrote my novel about 4 times already - I'm never satisfied with it. But that's life. At least I have it going in the right direction this time, which is all I hoped to accomplish. I'd hate to write a ton and realize the whole thing is rendered unusable. I'm still not entirely happy with it, and I'm worried something might be terribly cliche but that's just going to stay that way until I edit. I learned something highly valuable from Ernest Hemingway. He said something like "The first draft of anything is sh**." If even he says that, it must be true. I'm stopping my nervous editing while I write habit and just write it through and edit later. I always like to get everything right the first time...Now I'm letting go and I'm getting more done on my novel and it's truly exciting. I really wish I could tell you more but I'm trying to keep it under wraps. I'll tell you just a few nibbles.

I'm using the morning for brainstorming and outlining, and the afternoons for all-out writing until my keyboard is about to start flaming from my fingers. I'm so excited to be able to map out my chapters and how it's going to all go. It does take place in another world and I'm figuring out intriguing ways to invite you into the other world before the main character has even entered so it plays up on the foreshadowing and hopefully gets the reader excited to keep reading and see what happens when she actually goes there. I'm thinking about using something that was supposed to be used in an Irish story I had in mind and instead using it in this created world, because it would fit the story well for some reason. I guess the world has some Ireland type of qualities to it. And somewhat medieval. Not going to delve too deeply into it because I don't want to give away the magical quality of getting to know it first-hand through the experience of reading it.

Another side project - I have taken a silly book I wrote a few years ago of old poems and completely re-vamping it with better poems, editing the ones I find valuable, and even throwing in some never-before-seen short stories. (Never-before-seen because I've only written one complete short story so far. But I'm excited to actually write some full length ones instead of all the chunks I put on here. I only put up chunks so I can still have them available to me without worry of copyrighting and things of that nature.) And so, I can assure you I am quite excited about this project as well. My style of writing and my tastes have developed quite a lot in the area of poetry so this will be a lot of fun for me to write. Then maybe I can actually publish it and want to publicize it on blogs and the such.

So that's that. I hope I gave you a little insight into how my writing is going and what it is that is actually taking place in the now. I very much look forward to allowing you all to read what I've taken so much time to think of and write. I dwell on it pretty much every day and I'm tired of keeping it a secret but I know I must.

Creative Writing Chunk...or shall I say chunk-let?

Her hazel eyes glistened like sunlight shimmering on a beached conch-shell. She gazed in a reverent way so as not to disturb him in his careful work. His fingers wound round about the long silver instrument, and then with all eloquence imaginable for a man of his stature, he hung the most beautiful notes of melody upon the chilly autumn air. The music danced just as crisply as the burnt orange leaves which could barely hang on to the maple's swaying hands. Then, the wizened old willow breathed in the song, and returned it with graceful movements through it's billowing tresses; keeping time with the baker's nimble fingers.

(Sorry for the tease, I should really at least finish the scene, but I haven't the time...I'll get back to it if it's requested, how about that?) :)