Abandon ship and come check out the new blog!

Day 13: 'Aye the ship's struck the broadside of the fail whale, mateys! It's the title, thar it blows!

Ahem. Well, that's about as much pirate I can muster at this late an hour.

Dear readers,

After some deliberation brought about by some good advice, I've decided to ditch this blog for a new one.

Now, don't worry all the old entries are coming over to the new blog. Breathe, my friends, breathe. But the title sucks and doesn't really support the premise. My aim is to write as much as possible and to ditch bad habits, which includes such things as self deprecation disguised as humor. So with that, we'll all head over to my new blog for brownies and Postum. Okay?

www.syntacticalhiccups.blogspot.com

It's a way cooler name and the first post doesn't suck... although it does seem a bit rambly. Actually, now's a good time to get some input! Post a comment on Syntactical Hiccups and tell me what ya think.

Take care all,

Jordan

Frustration

Day 12: I hate my story.

Yes my dear internet, it is true. My premise is tired, I don't particularly like my characters anymore, and I'm having a lousy time getting this to flow. Hence the debate I've been having with myself for the better part of today: is it time to scratch the initial idea in favor of something else? Something more sci-fi?

Here are the pros:

1. More freedom in character design.
2. More freedom in settings.
3. Pre-existing ideas and premises I've had sitting around for some time.

...and the cons:
1. Never getting back to the original concept
2. Making exceptions that could result in derailing the blog
3. Not finishing the new idea and jumping ship yet again

Marcus made an interesting suggestion today regarding my perdicament. He suggested that if I do start something else, to consider it less as a failure and more as a revision. I think that that's a good way of looking at things, but I'm still scared about what shifting things could spell.

All I know is that I'm really not feeling this new story as it is and that something will have to change.

Oh blog....

Day 11: Insert Title Here

My brain is mush presently. It's gotten far too late to write anything worthwhile here, so I'll focus on teetering somewhere between absurd and comprehensible. I seem to have hay fever or a head cold. Either way, my nose feels like the edge of a well worn golf glove and is looking a little rudolphy.

Didn't work on The Muse at all today either, but I'm aiming to be a little bit more inspired come tomorrow morning. I'm mildly burnt out and I haven't even really started cooking things. Staying positive, kicking ass and chewing bubblegum.

More to follow.

Out and about

Day 10: Work can wait.

Wrote off today completely and had a great time hanging out at Pinks and Bigfoot with Cyn, Chris, and Miranda. This entry will be short, forced, and lame as I'm tired and a bit head achey. Just a warning.

Fin.

Back on schedule

Day 9: Full Speed Ahead

Alrighty, feeling a little better after quickly hammering out that last post. I was hardly thinking about the story today and instead found myself pondering a lot of seemingly unrelated things, namely the idea of "effort". I'm hardly phrasing that well, as effort is hardly an "idea", but it doesn't really fit the context of a "concept" either. Whatever description "effort" falls under, sometimes it is painfully difficult to put forth one tiny iota worth of it, especially when other things are going on around me. Right now, efforts are flailing and I'm ending this blog entry really before it even begins. Off to work on book stuff mayhaps.

And on the 8th day he forgot

Day 8: Breaking routine

This sucks. The time stamp you see on this blog entry is an absolute lie. It was not written at 11:20 and most certainly was not written on 1/8/10. The cake is a lie.

Fuck.

So here's what happened:

Yesterday morning was great. I started working on a completely unrelated project to both the blog and the book with C&C&M, which I will be remaining very "mum" on until the first installment is off and running--very cool and a lot of fun. Creatively, things were great yesterday, very productive via brainstorming. BUT I completely forgot about doing a blog! But no excuses! I fucking blew it, but I'm going to lie about the timestamps for convenience sake in timing this thing out.

My apologies to the six of you out there in internet land. Don't hate me too much.

FUCK.

Prime Directive

Day 7: A bit stuck

Today was rough going. I was having some serious difficulty in establishing goals for my characters and I broke the prime directive: not talking about the project... at least I made it to a week. That said, I'm going to try to "get back on the wagon" and refrain/restrain myself from talking about the process save for on the blog. However, I did get some really solid advice from my Uncle Chris on the subject of motivation and getting to know your characters.

When I first created Jack, I described him as one might describe an acquaintance. Chris suggested that I try "interviewing" my characters with some general questions to suss out where they stand on things and to get an idea of where they're coming from. He also mentioned having another character from the book describe Jack.

One of the arguments I'm having with myself is just how exactly "cerebral" I should like to forge this thing. I'm a better storyteller when adventure is involved and the idea of making Jack's experience interacting with "the muse" (whomever she may turn out to be) more along the lines of "magical realism" or horror, makes me squeamish.

More to follow.

Contents under pressure, although some sediment may have occured

Day 6: Keeping focused

My sister made an interesting observation this evening regarding the content of my blog thus far. To paraphrase: "It's boring."

Well, fuck. Of course it's boring. It's less a blog and more an exercise in discipline and commitment. Perhaps the biggest, honking challenge I've faced thus far in my limited experiences writing has been sticking with things and let's face it, a blog about a guy writing a book doesn't sound like something I'd read. But stay with me just a second longer.

They say (just who the fuck is this "they" anyway?) that telling a good story has more to do with execution than the content. It's the "how" and "why", not as much the "what". Not to say that "what" doesn't certainly have it's place, but so much of good story telling lies in the delivery, right? Right?

Well, self deprecation and neuroticism aside, and yes I'm aware neuroticism may not be a word according to spellcheck, I'm at least satisfied with the story I'm writing and that's the important part. I need to outline a few more things (quite a bit actually) but I'm feeling more positive and energetic about things...mostly because I have to be as being pessimistic seems antithetical to productivity.

Ugh...

Day 5: Piss and Vinegar

UGH. Five days into this thing and I'm already wanting to quit. Presently, I'm all kinds of stuck with what's going on with my characters and I'm now debating whether to alter the premise. The more I start to develop Jack, the less likely he seems to have any motivation for wanting to write or pursue anything artistic. This is a guy whose spent most of his undergraduate career drinking and I just don't see him possessing a desire for creative expression.

I've thought about having him write in order to get into some girl's pants, but that seems cliche. I've also thought about moving the story into a different direction and incorporating more adventurous elements. Hell, even in just expressing that thought right now, I'm feeling like that's a better route. Luckily, I did get a decent amount of writing in today, so I'm upbeat about that. I think I'll see if I can outline more of the plot. I think I need to figure out where I'm going before I can go any farther than poor Jack's shitty dorm room.

Speaking of rooms, I seriously need to light a fire under my ass and organize my desk before the new semester starts. I've been given an extension my article for Teacher Ed, which has taken some of the pressure off of my research. While its at least a subject matter I enjoy (graphic novels) I really would like to be done with Teacher Ed now and be getting started on focusing on the English program. On that note, I'm a little concerned with managing the coursework with my novel and this blog. But, I've committed to this, so I'll keep on keeping on.

Current Project: The Muse
Pages Complete: 1.5/???
Album Completion: 2.5%

Show and Tell

Day 4: Visualize

Today was hardly as productive as I'd hoped it would be. While I did manage to add a little to chapter 1, I realized that I hadn't exactly set the scene very well. I remembered something my friend Hung had told me regarding writing, that one should "show" rather than "tell". Hence adding a little more detail in describing the kind of surroundings Jack finds himself living in at school.

On the subject of school, I'm debating changing the college to better draw from my own experiences at a state school. However, part of Jack's major character flaw it that he's always been a child of privilege. I'll have to weigh it and see where things go.

As far as the plot outlining goes, I need to start mapping things out a bit more. I'm feeling a little disconnected at the moment and that needs to be alleviated ASAP to keep things flowing. Will probably spend some time on that tomorrow.

In other news, I'm still getting things in order for the new semester and meeting with an old high school classmate tomorrow for coffee. Tomorrow's work (and blog post) will be more interesting/insightful, I assure you. Honest.

Current Project: The Muse
Pages Complete: 1.5/???
Album Completion: 2.5%

Revisionist Boxing Match

Day 3: I hate censoring myself.

To any of the six people out in internet land who read the first installment of The Laziest Writer You Know, you may have noticed some sections have been recently omitted or altered as of ten minutes ago. Now, I know what you're thinking: He said he wouldn't pull any punches... and it certainly does look as though I'm doing just that.

As this blog remains in it's infancy, I'm still working out the kinks and debating on how public, private, or anonymous I should make things. It dawned on me earlier today, that is to say my sister specifically mentioned it to me, that some of what I had written in the first entry could unintentionally hurt some feelings. While I'm willing to punch myself, the last thing I'd ever want to do is punch the people I care about.

I'm beginning to think that one of the challenges that comes with blogging is the nonfictional element. There exists a very unique, 21st century tendency for over-sharing in our mixed up, shook-up social networking world. On one hand, a blogger aims to captivate his audience by sharing every inner thought and juicy observation they might not otherwise let fly in public. On the other, he weighs this necessity for blunt, hard, objectivity against the reactions and commentary of the very audience he tries to reach. My main character, Jack, encounters a similar dilemma involving the pitfalls of censorship and social networking.

Jack shares too much and can't be bothered with the fallout and collateral damage that comes from drunken pictures posted online or rambling livejournal entries about scoring pot on a budget. Most importantly, Jack doesn't see himself as a jerk and the more I start to write about his shortsightedness and douchebagery, the more humor I find in my past dealings with real people just like him.

TLDR: Loose lips sink ships, writers have a responsibility to be honest, yet humble, and Jack's character is starting to really take shape.

Current Project: The Muse
Pages Complete: 1/???
Album Completion: 2.5%

Indroductions and assorted blah, blah, blah

Day 2: A minor oversight

Introductions can be tricky. Luckily, I seem to have a handle on that component of writing fiction, at least for the time at hand. But it dawned on me last night that I did a rather mediocre job of introducing myself and projecting a little insight into to the nexus of anonymity we like to call the internet. While I doubt that people other than my immediate circle will be interested in keeping tabs on my novel progress, I will at the least spend a little more time describing my situation. Just in case.

On the subject of introductions, or more specifically on the subject of beginnings, I managed to get a good start on my writing project and have an official working title: The Muse.

Our story begins at Occidental College and follows Jack, an upscale pretty boy who has never worked a day in his life and has managed so far to successfully feign the facade of intellectualism while popping jello-shots and banging girls with names like Ashley, Krystal, and Porsche. But with as much outward zest for life our neirdowell protagonist exudes, there's a certain genuine discontentment creeping in beyond the hip, ironic melancholy that he wallows in. And like most good stories, it all begins with a girl...

Current Project: The Muse
Pages Complete: 1/???
Album Completion: 2.5%

You have to start somewhere.

Day 1: I begrudgingly begin my blog.

First off, this has nothing to do with Julia Childe, so let me put everyone's collective mind at rest. Furthermore, I can safely assure you dear readers that you will never see any sort of film adaptation depicting my life in a quirky, pseudo-indie fashion where I constantly bitch about writer's block and self-doubt in a "crappy"(unrealistic, damn near palatial, one-would-consider-contract-killing for) apartment with a perfect spouse.

This blog does however, pull few punches in describing the stupefying, near-cosmic, extent of my laziness and lack of discipline toward both writing and life. It will cover all the nitty gritty details surrounding just exactly how it is I'm working through my writing, racking up ungodly amounts of debt while working on an MA in Literature, living with my parents in my childhood home, and my dating life as a formerly-fat, 26 year old, novice.

Last night was New Year's Eve.

After dicking around in the cultural dark matter of the Inland Empire with my good pal Joe, the two of us were on the hunt for parties where scantily clad women might heave their ample bosoms from the confines of their jerkins, in the same way an ocean's tide might ebb with the moon pushing waves far beyond the rocky crags of a chaparral coast. Alas, our pursuits came to no avail and we dun got ourselves some hamburgers prior to stopping off at Jessica's for the first time that night.

Jessica and Andrew had just finished setting up and it looked as though there would be a good spread and that good company would be on their way but momentarily. Jessica's hospitality and kindness well made up for any uncomfortableness that night. Mostly, I'm just sick of being single every New Years.

But, I'm getting away from the intended thrust of this new blog, which is to serve as a means for charting my progress writing, working on my album, and life in general. Being the start of the new year, I've decided that now is as good a time as any to put some effort forward creatively and I think that keeping a blog will force me to maintain a deadline for my writing, my music, my school work, and to some extent, my life.

Summation (TLDR): I'm too lazy to be left to my own devices and expect myself to poop out great works of fiction, next year there had better be tits for New Year's Eve, and this blog may just serve as the .38 snub-buried-at-the-base-of-my-skull that I need for me to stick with something I start to write.

Current Project: TBA
Pages Complete: ?/???
Album Completion: 2.5%