Tuesday, March 25, 2008

I Need To Write Faster.

Those of you who have been reading There's No Crying in the War Room know that I started the book years ago. Those of you who read the introduction on the website know that originally, I intended to have my candidate win the popular vote but lose the electoral college. Then Al Gore came along and did that very thing so I abandoned that idea because it was no longer such a unique "how could that happen" sorta idea. (Anybody who want to whine that it didn't happen and and Gore really won and GWB stole the election and Florida needs to be evicted from the Union and space aliens ate your baby should feel free to comment on GetOverIt,ItHappenedAndThere'sNotADamnedThingYouCanDoAboutIt.com.)

So, anyway, as you know, I've dusted off my WIP (I read writer's blogs and learn nifty acronyms!), and I've posted it and I've been writing new chapters that I'm (mostly) quite happy with. I'm currently stuck on the next chapter that's due, but the dog ate my homework and some stuff was lost in the flood and that tornado struck and the only thing lost was the notepad with the great idea and I was going to write it yesterday but I had to take an online personality exam. Yes, I owe you a new chapter and I'm working on it and if you've got a problem with me, please comment at the above referenced website.

So, back to the point of this post. I need to write faster. A week ago yesterday, David Paterson took the oath of office to replace Eliot Spitzer as New York's Governor. Within 24 hours, both he and his wife publicly acknowledged that they had had extramarital affairs. Over the next couple of days they partially outed themselves regarding who the other participants were in these affairs. This was followed up by Paterson admitting that he might have paid for some of his hotel rooms with a credit card drawing on campaign funds, but he had always reimbursed the campaign. Yesterday, in an interview, Davey admitted that he had smoked pot and used cocaine a few times in his early 20's. I'm fully expecting him to announce tomorrow that he spent a few years as an intern to Dr. Jack Kevorkian. "I only picked up his dry cleaning."

So, back to the point again. Here's the question. Is David Paterson reading my book from a blocked IP and I should feel honored that he's taking his cues from little-old-me? Or am I writing too slowly and letting reality outpace me. Would Network have seemed so prescient if it were released in 1990?

Regardless of the answer to the above question, I obviously need to get my ass in gear. Otherwise, my book is going to look like an article in the NY Times Sunday Magazine instead of a work of fiction. Damn!

15 comments:

Tania said...

Prescient, dude. You're prescient. Somewhere/somehow your brain is tied into future events. If only it would dependably and precisely work for things like the stock market or major sporting events...

Jeff Hentosz said...

You got "WIP" from the writers blogs, eh? Well, FYI, graphic designers have Work-In-Progress files/logs/servers, too. Don't be bogarting the acronyms, scribbler.

As far as your novel goes, I will break my moratorium on commenting on it until it's done to say this: stop being a fussbudget and write. Adopt the "it's a practice novel" strategy and just git 'er done (that's what we say here in the heartland; I believe the NY correlation is "The fuck? C'mon!").

Steve Buchheit said...

You and me both, dude. And I've got other deadlines. Heck, I've missed out on using the Incan Calendar jokes for my book (12-21-2012, yeah, there was good stuff with it, but by the time it could be published we'd be past being able to use it.

But, what Jeff said (both parts).

Nathan said...

Tania,

I'm not getting anything about the stock market, but I have a definite vision of a corned beef on rye with spicy mustard. That's totally in my immediate future.

Tania said...

I wish I get to a good link for the Christopher Walken SNL skit Ed Glosser: Trivial Psychic. One of my all time favorites.

Jeff Hentosz said...

Tania:

This is probably as good as you're going to find, without getting it off a DVR hard drive. It does have a commercial at the beginning, and it can be a little jerky even on DSL or cable. But it is put up by NBC, so it's "official."

Tania said...

Thanks Jeff! I have a wide variety of blocked sites thanks to the evil Nannyware here at work (Shawn's site is blocked?!?!?!!).

Much <3 for Christopher Walken, over here.

kimby said...

Hey Nathan, have you thought about taking the Nanowrimo train of thought with the novel.
(Nano is the write a 50 thousand word novel in a month deal that happens world wide in November) The focus is to just put the words on the page and then go back and edit later. Sometimes is helps to write in white font so you cannot edit as you write.

Nathan said...

K-A,

I'm not exactly a perfectionist, but I think following that model would make me batshit crazy in a big hurry.

Random Michelle K said...

I'm not exactly a perfectionist, but I think following that model would make me batshit crazy in a big hurry.

You say that in the future tense?

Chris said...

Don't feel too bad Nathan, it seems like no matter how fast you write, things in reality outpaces you. I wrote a short story in the late 90's that was completely ripped off by the movie "Garden State" (no, I never published it but the bastards ripped me off!). I also began a novel in the early 90s (again, never published) about a breed of genetically enhanced super soldiers feared by all the normal people around them. Guess what? Richard Morgan published "The Black Man/Thirteen" so now I'm screwed lol.

Nathan said...

No worries Chris,

Just make your men yellow and its a completely original story.

Chris said...

Hmm..."The Yellow Man". Or maybe I'll call it "Fourteen". Thanks Nathan!

Nathan said...

Hey Chris,

Why aren't you signed up for the giant ficlet we're starting on Monday?

Chris said...

Honestly, I forgot about it! I don't know how, since I've seen info about it here AND over at Whateveresque, but I'll go check it out now.