I've got one article half-finished, about Geoje's unknown attractions (thus far it's turned out disgustingly like a travel brochure) and one article drafted about that rabbit I found. Oh, didn't I tell you about that? Well, I'll have to...sometime. I've got about five or so other articles finished or drafted; most of them concern traveling, and one of them's an extremely condensed version of this Seoul holiday that I'm in the midst of telling you about.
I'm a coward. That's my problem. I'm afraid to submit things because I'm afraid of failure. If I could just...get...accepted...once...then I'd be okay. I'd know what I was doing wrong, I'd know how to improve, I'd know what it feels like to get published, and I could just relax and get on with it. But I don't know, and it's killing me. I wish I could just buckle down, write a bunch of stuff, and fearlessly submit it. But I seem to be getting in my own way. Oh, I've drafted an article for today, I can stop there... Darn, it's so hard to find publications that accept the kind of material I've got socked away... Well, I think I'll leave this one until I get a tourist map for reference...
I'll get back to you as soon as I get some sense into my head. No matter how many pep talks I get from my friends or my family I just can't seem to bestir myself to action. I find it baffling and frustrating. On a lighter note, my umpteenth and thus far most successful attempt at writing a novel is going well! Just started the seventh chapter last week. I'm over the shoal water now; the introductory chapters were unexpectedly difficult, and looking back at them now I believe they're pretty crappy, but unlike the 59 other attempts before this one, I'm not compelled to delete or rip up what I've got so far. Things are getting easier, but they're still difficult. I've managed to establish the setting pretty well and introduce the antagonists, but I'm having some problems with the action. The first part of the book's damnably slow. Half of Act I, if not more, is just dialogue. There's not enough action, not enough intrigue, not enough punch. I'm just now getting to the action bits (and Lordie, it's going to be glorious), but I've got to do something about the doldrums that precede them. Oh well. I'm just happy this current attempt is proceeding at all. This is going to get a lot more fun once I finish fleshing out the protagonists and introduce all the important secondary characters I've got in mind...but I intend to keep plugging away at it with all I've got.
Now if I could just translate that fervor over to the professional side of my writing...
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