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handful_ofdustOne more tweak to the first story of 2021 and now I'm on to the next one (repeat ad infinitum), which is birthing itself one surprisingly difficult sentence at a time. Doesn't help that I never had much of a plan going into it; as I told Steve last night, it's more of an experiment in rhetoric than anything else, my tribute to someone whose voice/worldview I'm attempting to approximate without satire or pastiche. Which once again reminds me that at my best, I think of myself as a practical workhorse more than an artist with a voice of "my own," a machine, someone who can pump stuff out and then be objective/professional about it, and if I can't even do that anymore then what good am I for anybody?
At any rate, if I can turn it around today--and I don't see why I can't--I should be able to move on to the story I'm genuinely looking forward to writing, even though it simultaneously scares me. Another tribute job, offered at the last moment by Ellen Datlow, who needs something (she was very specific) that has to be at least 6,000 words long. I think I can use it as a preliminary sketch for part of Nightcrawling, too, which is good. And then back to the final project, the deadline for which has thankfully moved back a bit. "Normalcy," at last.
In world events, nothing happened yesterday except what was supposed to happen, and that's great. As I said on Facebook, seeing how happy all my friends are is its own reward. I wish I was capable of not worrying about the next thing, and the next thing, and the next thing. But as with the election itself and its results, I think the most effective thing I can do right now/for the future is just to enjoy the present for what it is while distracting myself with work. I'm just happy to be able TO work, after a long-ass dry period.
At any rate, if I can turn it around today--and I don't see why I can't--I should be able to move on to the story I'm genuinely looking forward to writing, even though it simultaneously scares me. Another tribute job, offered at the last moment by Ellen Datlow, who needs something (she was very specific) that has to be at least 6,000 words long. I think I can use it as a preliminary sketch for part of Nightcrawling, too, which is good. And then back to the final project, the deadline for which has thankfully moved back a bit. "Normalcy," at last.
In world events, nothing happened yesterday except what was supposed to happen, and that's great. As I said on Facebook, seeing how happy all my friends are is its own reward. I wish I was capable of not worrying about the next thing, and the next thing, and the next thing. But as with the election itself and its results, I think the most effective thing I can do right now/for the future is just to enjoy the present for what it is while distracting myself with work. I'm just happy to be able TO work, after a long-ass dry period.
