Today, I am trying to reconcile some scenes to fit the personalities of my characters and not be boring. I’ve been snacking all day to avoid this task. Boy, is it difficult. This is my fault for not knowing truly who my characters are until the 3rd draft!
Category: Uncategorized
Poe’s Dream-Land
Today is Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday. I have always appreciated his work, especially his poem Dream-Land. In fact, I related to it so much that I have “Haunted by ill angels only” tattooed on the back of my neck. At the time, I had spent a lot of time trying to figure out what it was I was meant to do with my life, and I knew that I would have to go on some unknown adventures on my own. Eighteen was a strange turning point in my life.
I got this particular line tattooed on my neck because, for a long time, everything that was good was tinged with something bad that had happened. I wanted to appreciate all the good while acknowledging that bad things happen and that I could overcome them. I wanted to eventually appreciate that these things had happened. I know that is vague but hopefully understandable.
I still love my tattoo even though my life has drastically changed since I was eighteen. Now, I am not as lonely, but my path is still obscure. The ill angels are not as cruel as they used to be, but they are still there.
I get told a lot “Look where you came from and where you are now”, in a sense, I think this represents what I meant when I got this tattoo. Look what happened, the good and the bad, and see what it is now. My tattoo is a little faded these days. I think I am going to leave it as it. I am not ready to renew the ink in my ill angels.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48631/dream-land-56d22a06bce76
I’d Go to a Writing Workshop Again
Today was an eventful day at the 2018 Boston Writing Workshops. I have never attended a workshop related to writing even though I am sure there have been plenty near me since I moved to Massachusetts. I must have inherently known they come here, I think that in the past I have been too closed off to consider even looking them up. Well, not anymore, since my new policy is to do what makes me happy. I now know that writing workshops do, indeed, fit the bill.
I think my fear was that the event would be pretentious. It wasn’t, not one bit. It was laid back, everyone was nice, and the workshops were an hour chock full of encouraging words and insightful questions. I am very glad I attended, and I hope to participate more when I go next time.
Yes, yes – the introvert didn’t just magically go away after 29 years of trying. However, I do feel that I am opening up more in my daily life. The Boston Writing Workshop gave me the opportunity to learn more about a craft I love. I also got to see that there are people in the area that care about writing as well.
One takeaway I had from today is that maybe I shouldn’t discount the possibility of pitching my novel to an agent eventually. There are a lot of nuts and bolts that comes with publishing a book and I really need to explore all my options. Since I will be participating in the 100 Day Book Challenge the second draft of my book, which will be a lot of rewriting, the dream of pitching a book might not be as far away as it seems to be.
I also learned some wisdom today about writing Sci-fi/fantasy. The meaning, and reasons behind the sci-fi/fantasy comes in the second draft. I have been consistently struggling with the meaning and reasoning behind my novel. I will keep fiddling around and see what happens.
Also, someone called me Ma’am today. No, please. Don’t.
To Keep Learning, Always 