In today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* Just chatting
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“Written stories belong to their individual creators as individuals. Copyright laws around the world reflect this belief and value. … Stories don’t belong to cultures or people who bear some similarity to the characters in a book.” David Vandagriff (as The Passive Guy) harkening back to my previous Journal post
Just chatting this morning.
I haven’t talked with you in a few days. That omission was unintented. But really, I haven’t had much to talk about, at least regarding writing. Even “Of Interest” is slim this morning.
I do plan to write today. Probably I’ll finish the short story first, then move on to another short story or one of the novels. The past couple of days I didn’t write at all.
Instead, I worked around the place, and I did a lot more than I expected to. I’m not as old on the inside as I am on the outside. My brain says “You can totally do that, dude.” (Yeah, my brain calls me “dude.”) But my body says “Slow down a little or I’m gonna hurt you.”
And I generally obey my body ’cause, you know, robotic elements work only as well as they’re oiled. I’m sure some of you can relate. If you can’t, wait for it. Trust me. (grin)
Anyway, I was working (am still working) toward putting in a new Z-shaped walk-through passage in what had been a solid barbed-wire fence. The idea is that humans will be able to make it through the Z but cattle and horses won’t.
The new path is necessary. It leads to our water well, which occasionally needs to be reset. The well is only about 40 yards away line-of-sight from the Hovel, but it’s about a half-mile round-trip if I walk from the Hovel, around the corral, through a faux-locked gate, and along a dirt road. And back. And I have a personality flaw: I enjoy walking, but not when I have to.
The path leads through what was originally a lot of tall grass and brush and the strong possibility of encountering an annoyed rattlesnake from mid-spring through late fall.
So once I took out a section of fence, I got out my mower and cut all of that a small segment at a time. Usually I had to angle the mower deck so it would come down on top of the grass or brush so the mower wouldn’t stall.
Then when the preliminary clearing was done I had to wait for the dust to clear. Literally. The wind that seems always to be here wasn’t here when I needed it (natch) so the dust cloud hovered in place for several minutes.
When it finally cleared I got out my hand scythe and then the loppers to finish clearing the path. Finally I sank two more t-posts and pieced together a few lengths of barbed wire between them to complete the Z.
I rounded out the day by taking a shower, then watched movies the rest of the day because doing that was a lot easier than, say, moving around. (grin)
Then the next morning (yesterday), I came out and tried the Z-gate and caught my sleeve on barbed wire. The angles were too small for a clear passage. And after looking at the configuration for a while, I realized if I made them wide enough, a more adventurous than usual cow or horse could make it through the Z too.
Back to the drawing board. I might have to go buy a few new t-posts so I can change the angles appropriately into more of a Y than a Z. But more than likely I’ll just fashion and hang a regular gate on one of the existing posts and be done with it.
And that’s what I’m working on this morning while it’s still cool outside. Afterward, if body and mind agree, I’ll write.
Talk with you again when I can.
Of Interest
See “Kick the Writing Blues to the Curb” at https://killzoneblog.com/2020/10/kick-the-writing-blues-to-the-curb.html. Frankly, I’m amazed. Yes, Mr. Bell, when you get stuck, “just write the next sentence.”
See “The Mystery of Time’s Arrow” at http://nautil.us/issue/71/flow/the-mystery-of-times-arrow-rp. Story ideas.
See “Breonna Taylor: The Search Warrant – Part One” at https://leelofland.com/breonna-taylor-the-search-warrant-part-one/.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 720 words
Writing of “Turnaround” (short story)
Day 1…… 1092 words. Total words to date…… 1092 Day 2…… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXX (done)
Writing of Blackwell Ops 8 (novel)
Day 1…… 1653 words. Total words to date…… 1653
Day 2…… 1043 words. Total words to date…… 2696
Day 3…… 1711 words. Total words to date…… 4407
Day 4…… 1221 words. Total words to date…… 5628
Day 5…… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXX
Writing of Body on the Beach (novel, working title)
Day 1…… 1135 words. Total words to date…… 1135
Day 1…… 1409 words. Total words to date…… 2544
Total fiction words for the month……… XXXX
Total fiction words for the year………… 335194
Total nonfiction words for the month… 1690
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 152080
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 487274
Calendar Year 2020 Novels to Date…………………… 5
Calendar Year 2020 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2020 Short Stories to Date… 12
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 50
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 213
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31