Last Person #5
- Thread starter jks9199
- Start date
- Status
wingchun100
Senior Master
Hello, sir! Oh that reminds me: I finally made it to Corley's JKD class! Awesome experience. Been there twice so far.
And this is why I've not written a novel. Good effort, man!Writing-wise, there are two big news items for me.
First, the webcomic is now on hiatus. Lost my artist. I am just going to let it slumber for now.
Second is I went through and revised a novel that I wrote back in 2008. There was a rather large, intimidating section that I knew had to be cut because, immediately after I finished writing it, I said, "Damn...this crap is just filler!" However, I was stumped as to what I should replace it with. (And yes, I HAD to replace it or else the story wouldn't be novel length.)
So I let it sit...and sit...and sit.
Recently a website agreed to let me post the novel in serialized form, so I got to work revising the story. When I got to the sections that needed to be cut, I had MS Word tally up the word count and found it was a whopping 8,600 words long! CRAP! What am I going to replace that with?
I still had no answer, so what I did was chop out the offending bits and then marched forward, going to the end of the novel until I revised everything I knew how to handle. On the way, I made myself a neat little list of ideas of different threads I could stick in the story. The list was 7 items long. Upon looking back over the list, I saw 2 items were useless. However, that still left me with 5.
I got to writing, inserting them all into the narrative. (Well, all but one. Still trying to figure out a good place for it.) And wouldn't you know it? The novel is now 62,000 words long...3,000 more than it was before the excising!
Sometimes, life is good.
wingchun100
Senior Master
Thanks, man! It certainly was not an easy road, but I finally got to the end of it.
wingchun100
Senior Master
Still got that one extra story thread to be placed in the novel. I didn't get the time to do it today, but it's another part of the story I have to think on. Letting it rest is the best thing I can do for it at this point.
wingchun100
Senior Master
Also been revamping and revising the crap out of my little solo Wing Chun training routine that I came up with. One of the things featured in my routine is Shadow Boxing. I do 12 three-minute rounds, which I believe is the same length as a professional boxing match. I used to put the Shadow Boxing on Saturdays and Sundays because I figured, since those are my two days off, I had ALL DAY to get to it, so that was best.
Turns out having all day to get to it...made me NEVER get to it. So I shuffled things around, and I came up with a schedule that works for me.
Turns out having all day to get to it...made me NEVER get to it. So I shuffled things around, and I came up with a schedule that works for me.
wingchun100
Senior Master
One of these days I need to write an ebook on Wing Chun training for those who have busy schedules AND can't make it to class much. Given some of the discussions I have seen on this very site, it is a niche waiting to be filled.
donald1
Senior Master
just reading a novel is stressful enough! you sit there and you continue sitting there... time goes by and your still sitting there. reading a book. i cant even read a book for 15 minutes without becoming dreadfully bored. but writing a book! thats one challenge im not touching but good luck to anyone who does.
Reading is something I can do almost endlessly, usually. I've had trouble concentrating on reading lately, but usually it's something I'll unintentionally lose sleep doing.
granfire
Sr. Grandmaster
you ought to try it.
it's actually rather a lot of fun.
Agreed. Just don't read what you're "supposed to". Read something that is, in fact, fun. For some folks (like my wife) that's the same thing. For others, there's almost no overlap. For me, some of the "supposed to" stuff is just not worth the effort, and some of it is a lot of fun and/or fulfilling in some way.
Flatfish
Black Belt
wingchun100
Senior Master
That is exactly what I rebelled against when I was in late high school and early college. I HATED all the books that were in the Western canon: Shakespeare, Dickens, and so on. My attitude was very punk, I guess, because I felt like I was being told, "These are the books you should like...the ONLY ones." I was like, oh yeah? Well, F you while I go read Burroughs, Ginsberg, and Kerouac. I'll be sipping my Mai Tai while I read Henry Miller or Thomas Pynchon. Take your "classics" and shove 'em.
granfire
Sr. Grandmaster
then again, it's the place of youth in history, to rebel against the 'classics'
until the tunes of their glorious standoff pop up on the 'classic hits' and 'Golden Oldies' station.
While I am sure Henry Miller will never make the 'must read' list - unlike the Twilight dreck - much of your list is now considered a 'must read'
But yeah, I look at those lists.
most I would only touch under threat of death.
But then again, I believe that far fewer people actually read these books, than quote them
The Prince and The Art of War for example.
granfire
Sr. Grandmaster
of course, sometimes you have to pick up one you think you don't like, and just read.
It's Ok to put it down unfinished.
But school has to break our horizons wide open, so we learn what we like.
outside of Facebook
Yeah, I don't think I ever read the entirety of a book that was assigned. Some I've read since then, and found fulfilling, but I had a major quite rebellious streak. I read a ton, but not what teachers wanted me to. Fortunately, my dad had a good library of sci-fi, psychology, self-help, Shakespeare, and philosophy.
Yeah, I start some that I end up putting down. I finally learned that was okay sometime in my 30's. My wife actually enjoys that stuff. She reads (and re-reads) Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and a bunch of others. She also reads sci-fi/fantasy, so I keep her.
granfire
Sr. Grandmaster
I used to read a lot, then suddenly I wasn't.
Now I read sporadically, and finance the library with late fees...
But I do read mostly light material these days.
Life sucks enough, I don't have to add fictional drama.
Plus I found that audio books work wonders for the daily commute, a half our each way, when I can't really skip ahead, and have nothing else to do.
but even there, I did not finish.
some of the 'must reads':
Native son (didn't like the reader much)
The end of eternity.
Unless there is a major plot twist in there, it was too obvious....
Tried about 3 times to read The Satanic Verses.
No go. never made it past the first chapter,
On the other hand, I have Luke and the Fire of Life laying here, it's just unfinished, because reading for 15 minutes at a time, for lunch is too disruptive - I rather play pokemon!
but so far it's a great book!
Now I read sporadically, and finance the library with late fees...
But I do read mostly light material these days.
Life sucks enough, I don't have to add fictional drama.
Plus I found that audio books work wonders for the daily commute, a half our each way, when I can't really skip ahead, and have nothing else to do.
but even there, I did not finish.
some of the 'must reads':
Native son (didn't like the reader much)
The end of eternity.
Unless there is a major plot twist in there, it was too obvious....
Tried about 3 times to read The Satanic Verses.
No go. never made it past the first chapter,
On the other hand, I have Luke and the Fire of Life laying here, it's just unfinished, because reading for 15 minutes at a time, for lunch is too disruptive - I rather play pokemon!
but so far it's a great book!
- Status
