Monday, October 26, 2009

obsessions and nano

Ever since I started writing, I've been obsessed with a couple (well... honestly, that is a ridiculous underestimation) things about what I do.

First of all, one of my things is that I am perhaps a bit overly concerned about not just what I write, but how it's written. What I mean is, I look at white space, the actual physical shape of my paragraphs and sentences. I look at the words and consider their structures and components in the way a musician might study sheet music.

I know, that's crazy. But I have been getting more and more obsessed with that idea.

So what I'm working on at the moment is a novel about how the world sounds, and the words on the pages are supposed to create a sound in the mind of the reader. It's supposed to be sound without actually being audible, but it's not like it shouldn't be read aloud... you'd just have to do it differently, and I'm sure that makes no sense at all. So you'll have to wait until I finish it, which will be, like....

Anyway, with NaNoWriMo coming up, I've been working on this little beast pretty much, and although I will not enter the NaNoWriMo thing, I am planning on finishing this novel by the end of November.

We'll see.

I recently bought a new computer. I transferred all my old files from my last computer over onto it -- you know, things like all the original versions of everything I've written in the last few years, as well as stuff I am working on at the moment. My intent was to give my old computer to my son to use, but, me being me, I had to hold onto it until I was certain that all of my old files actually are here on this new computer.

I finally broke down and reformatted the old computer's hard drive. To me, that was kind of like watching a funeral pyre. Or I feel like one of those monks who makes a sand mandala and immediately wipes it out.

I'll get over it.

Back to work.