Functional Freakiness

I made a small effort toward getting back in the writing saddle after my weekend adventures. I confess, I haven't had much luck. This is how I've been feeling for nigh on two weeks...

Reading between the lines of those blog entries, you can probably detect a tinge of guilt.  It was fed, in part, by this quote I'd read (and posted to my tumblr) from filmmaker John Waters in his "10 Best Pieces of Advice for Functional Freaks."

I’m a fascist about my work habits and I expect you to be, too. Never have a spontaneous moment in your life again. If you’re going to have a hangover, it should be scheduled on your calendar months in advance. Rigid enjoyment of planning can get you high. Militant time-management will enable you to ignore how maladjusted you would be if you had the time to notice it in the first place. Discipline is not anal compulsion; it’s a lifestyle that breeds power.

Tough Love

No justifications, no explanations, no excuses, though I will offer that some of these things might have been answered if I brought in the amount of material I'd intended to bring in before Life Happened the week before.

For now--possibly from now on--I won't be posting Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo of what I brought. Every comment I got was either Scene!Win or Scene!Fail. And the Fail list is sooo much longer...

Scene!Win

• Scene I brought was "believeable, in a weird way."
• The "usual" compliments (smooth writing, believable/snappy dialogue, etc.)
• Bits were "funny."

Scene!Fail
(From lowest to highest degree)

• "Soda" vs. "pop" (vs. "coke")
  
• Need to give a little better sense of exactly who the protagonist, by this point.
  
• Need to be more explicit about the protagonist's feelings toward his overall situation.
• Need to show my protagonist's reactions to the fantasy element (good, bad, or indifferent).
• Confusion about how I described a facet of the fantasy element. (Totally unnecessary confusion, on my part.)
• The fucking scene doesn't really add anything, leaving some to still ask themselves exactly what the fucking story's really about!!

*Sigh*

Hindsight is 20/20, but I'm thinking the reason I forced myself to bring and read 830 words of fail was for the symbolic victory of having written despite the week's obstacles. Obviously, it didn't even qualify as a Pyrric victory. It might've been if I'd have been able to finish more of it--I actually had about 500 more words, but I just couldn't get them polished in time.

I think it's time to drag my Inner Drill Sergeant back out...

Where's My War Face?

A couple of folks in the crit group have tried to tell me about the need to let a story cool sometimes. I'm almost afraid to allow that. I've gotten to a point where my first drafts are coming at the sort of clip I'd like, thanks to my Inner Drill Sergeant. The truth is I'm frustrated that my editing hasn't reached that point yet. I've got two pieces on the burner right now. I know I have all the parts I need; I just need to make them fit better. And I wanted it done yesterday!


"I will motivate you!"

I might as well give them a rest though--a little one--while I try to unfuck myself, lest my Inner Drill Sergeant unscrews my head and shits down my neck. I've been hitting my head against brick walls anyway, so why not? I didn't go idle today, though. I shot a piece off to 6S, so we'll see what happens with that.