So here's something everyone is going to call a dumb move.
I'm selling my TV.
That's right. My TV, DVD player, surround sound, entertainment center, all of it. It's going to a good friend moving to Milwaukee at a good price. For the few of you visiting this weekend, enjoy it until he picks it up Saturday.
Why would I go and do something so foolish? Why would I deny myself the God-given right to sit vegetated in front of the glowing boob tube for hours? Well, that right there is the reason. I'm prone to zoning out in front of the thing, doing nothing for hours.
Let's face it, unless I've lived with someone, I've never had cable. I get only two stations in right now. Most of the stuff on TV right now - reality TV, game shows, etc. - is horrible and I have no ambition to watch any of it.
Then there's movies. Boy, will I miss those. The majority of my DVDs will be sold. A select few, I'll keep around in case I want to view them at a friend's house. But, either way, I'll be around another human being to watch them instead of spending even more time alone by myself. That's what's writing time is for.
But what can a news reporter do without watching the nightly news? You'd be surprised. Meredith's out of the area, so the nightly news is useless. Besides, I'll buy a decent radio and listen to the news stations in the area.
So what will I do with all of the spare hours not watching my 100-or so DVDs? Read. Write. Exercise. Live my life. Anything but watch TV.
I've spent too much of my life sitting down, letting someone else use their imagination to tell me how I should see something. For hours, I'd turn my brain off. Not any more. As long as I'm old school, that's living under the assumption people still read for leisure, I'm going the full bout.
In my apartment, you'll find no television. There's no Internet. Just a growing number of books, ones I bought to read and others I have written.
Let's see how long it lasts.
12.07.2006
12.06.2006
On editing
I'm half-way through going over the first rough draft manuscript right now, and, for the most part, I'm pretty happy with what I have.
There's still going to have to be some changes, considering the ending changed since I wrote the beginning. Foreshadowing is a good thing. Also, there'll be a lot of instances where I'll have to spice up some blah language.
Other than that, there's some parts I'm pretty proud of. Others I would hope the world never sees. I'm dredging along in the process, keeping pace with what I was writing it.
Peace, love and hair grease.
There's still going to have to be some changes, considering the ending changed since I wrote the beginning. Foreshadowing is a good thing. Also, there'll be a lot of instances where I'll have to spice up some blah language.
Other than that, there's some parts I'm pretty proud of. Others I would hope the world never sees. I'm dredging along in the process, keeping pace with what I was writing it.
Peace, love and hair grease.
12.04.2006
Post-partum depression, of sorts
So here's something I didn't expect.
Since completing the novel, killing a character and not being able to give him closure in his departure, I've felt extremely depressed for the past couple days. Some of you might have got the text messages. Don't worry I'm fine. While they were worded weird, it was just a way to say I appreciate all of you in my life and never tell you enough. I don't want to wait until it's too late.
Apparently, it's not uncommon for authors to become depressed after a completion of a book or after killing off a character. We invest so much of our emotions writing about a person who becomes real in our minds, so when they die, we feel a friend has died too. It's what losing a child must be like.
J.K. Rowling, the woman who writes Harry Potter, cried for days after killing Dumbledore.
While I killed off the main character, Ethan, a long time ago, completing the full details of his demise was actually depressing. In sorts, I've come to respect and like a character that only exists in my head and on page.
Many of you know about my depressive episodes and attempted suicide in college. In some ways, similar emotions ran through me after killing Ethan. It's so strange to describe. It was like the death of a life-long friend.
It was a bad thing to sit alone by myself and write the story and then go and celebrate by myself. Too much time on my own, fostering the death of the character, made me feel even worse. My feelings of isolation had become bad.
But, now I'm back at work, keeping busy around people. Still, it's something I didn't expect as a first-time novelist.
That will all be gone I suspect when the boys from Winona come to visit this weekend.
Since completing the novel, killing a character and not being able to give him closure in his departure, I've felt extremely depressed for the past couple days. Some of you might have got the text messages. Don't worry I'm fine. While they were worded weird, it was just a way to say I appreciate all of you in my life and never tell you enough. I don't want to wait until it's too late.
Apparently, it's not uncommon for authors to become depressed after a completion of a book or after killing off a character. We invest so much of our emotions writing about a person who becomes real in our minds, so when they die, we feel a friend has died too. It's what losing a child must be like.
J.K. Rowling, the woman who writes Harry Potter, cried for days after killing Dumbledore.
While I killed off the main character, Ethan, a long time ago, completing the full details of his demise was actually depressing. In sorts, I've come to respect and like a character that only exists in my head and on page.
Many of you know about my depressive episodes and attempted suicide in college. In some ways, similar emotions ran through me after killing Ethan. It's so strange to describe. It was like the death of a life-long friend.
It was a bad thing to sit alone by myself and write the story and then go and celebrate by myself. Too much time on my own, fostering the death of the character, made me feel even worse. My feelings of isolation had become bad.
But, now I'm back at work, keeping busy around people. Still, it's something I didn't expect as a first-time novelist.
That will all be gone I suspect when the boys from Winona come to visit this weekend.
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