Long Form

Preemptive warning: this blog post is basically just me thinking into a word processor. By the time I post this my wife will be away at camp meeting. I handle the distance better than she does. Still it means I won't have her here to help me wrestle my demons.

As I have come to believe is typical for most writers of my pedigree (that is folks who grew up doing it and have trouble imagining doing anything else with their lives) I have a bounty of old unfinished projects, many of wish I probably erroneously considering still to be "in progress." I may have mentioned a few of them on this blog in the past. Certainly Talks Ke looms large both in word count and personal mythology.

I have also mentioned that I have quite a few projects heaped on my plate. It is enough to make me wonder if I give myself these projects just to feel like I'm doing something with my life.
Then I remember these are stories I want to tell. They capture my mind and I want to share them. Ideally, I want the natural outpouring of my writing to support me. I'm even willing to work hard at it.

One of troubles with having novel or series-length projects is that, while I want to share the stories, it takes a tremendous amount of time and effort to devote to their telling, not to mention the hard part: going public. Book signings. Elbow rubbing. And that's after convincing someone to pick you up.

It seems to me that I also face the inverse problem with my Writing Circle. In terms of time and effort the pieces we generate have minimal requirements, but I have virtually no passion for the material and frankly that shows in every soulless piece I put out week to week. I'm good at writing short stories. Not great. Just good. But that's only when I care about what I am writing. All too often I slog through because it's ostensibly improving my writing. I am still uncomfortable with the short story structure. I can't get pacing right and I prioritize the wrong techniques. Many weeks I rush through the writing to get to projects I give a hoot about.

These projects apparently include complaining on this blog, which is easier than tying my shoes.
For these reasons I am probably going to cut this blog short to make time for other things. Like short stories and poetry. But at least you know where my head's at, should you care about such things.


I'm still working on song reviews. They haven't gone a way. See you next week.