Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Everything Falls Apart

... And always at the same time.


My computer is broken. My car is dying of rust and old age. My novel needs a rewrite at the end. And I'm probably going to be broke all summer.


This was not a very good weekend for me.


I mean, I knew my car was dying. It's a fourteen year old car that has lived it's entire life in Michigan. The salt and rust are killing it. This weekend just included a grim prognoses from the mechanic: There's not much he can do to repair some of the rusting out parts. Parts whose failure means safety issues and/or certain wreckage.


My computer has developed rather severe form of narcolepsy. It will shut down in the middle of whatever I am doing. Sometimes there seems to be a cause. Sometimes, not. It's getting a little, ah, aggravating. And it certainly interfers with my desire to work on the rewrite I need.


The rewrite doesn't surprise me. The core is good, but I got to tweak it. I think that's actually pretty standard for me, looking back at how I write. Usually, I put the story aside for a bit then re-evaluate. Upon reevaluation, I usually tweak the climax. Since the ending of any story is always the hardest for me, it's no surprise that the novel needs work, too. At least the bones are good, it just needs some serious cosmetic surgery.


Though it looks like I'll have plenty of time to write this summer. My retail job, which I primarily keep for extra hours in the summer or here and there, probably won't have any hours for me. That sucks. That's going to hurt the old paycheck. Though, it will free up some time for reading, which is nice.

And, oh yeah, was getting ready to post this and the button popped off my pants. Nice. I think I'll just curl up with a book and try to escape for a while.

  • Novel Regress-- back to chapter 31 to rework the tension and excitement of the finale
  • Current Song: Missing by Evanescense

8 comments:

Travis Erwin said...

me days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed. But the good news as a writer you can turn and twist these problems into future material.

Hope things look up for you soon.

Clair D. said...

Thank you Travis.

So far, the buttons back on and the computer hasn't crashed in an hour, so I'm calling that a win for now. ;-P

pattinase (abbott) said...

But then there are days when all the world seem bright and shiny. Okay, maybe not in this century but once.

Clair D. said...

Everyonce in a while. I think my wedding day was one of those.

But I'm more of a dark lining to every silver cloud sort of person. ;-)

pattinase (abbott) said...

Me too.

r2 said...

I think your writing is great. You have alot of fans already. You have a novel almost done. You're published online more than about anyone else in the world....hey, life looks pretty sweet to me.

And Patti winning a Derringer and in an anthology by Ed Gorman....I wish I had your troubles.

Clair D. said...

It's all a matter of perspective, I suppose. There are worse problems I could have, and there are easier problems.

r2 said...

So...when do I get to see the WIP?