Odds & Ends

During the first draft of Gray and passing it through workshop, I knew the amount of work involved. Now that I've started reworking (I know the ending, I know exactly what I need to do to continue so I'm on fairly solid ground), the realization of how much work it really needs has begun to sink in. You see, starting out, it was just about getting it down, making sure the plot was coming through. Now, it's all about the words. Lots of trimming, lots of tightening. My work emulates the Hemingway quote about first drafts: they're "shit".

It's at this point worrying that I'm doing too much is going to start becoming a concern. I've used the schedule I set for myself and pushed the agenda for reworking forward by about a week, so I'm getting down to the grisly task much earlier. Rewriting is really what writing's about. The first draft is just a game plan, a blueprint. Things will change as you go on. Not that any of this is new information, but it's been so long the reminder is useful.

Digging this new blogger format, a lot less cluttered. I'm glad I came back to this in the end. I can see the advantage of Google+, especially for people with blogs here. It's a lot less sharing to do: everything in one space. Not that I've got the chance of trying out the Plus, of course. 

Tomorrow, my former ping pong/table tennis skills will come into play. Challenging a fellow writer to a couple games. Haven't picked up a racket in close to ten years so it's been a while. Sixteen doesn't seem that long ago, though. It's endearing how fast time really does go when you're older and looking back on what it's taken to get here. I am looking forward to it though, just getting back into the flow of things. If this goes well and I remember how to play squash, that could be next. There's another sport in the center called 'aeroball', apparently so that may be another contender. And now that there's the rewriting to do, I know the stuff I'm already working with. There isn't anything new to say: just new ways of saying it. Originality isn't really dead, if you think about it.

Anyway, today's update. This feels more like a diary entry than anything worthy, but I'll take what I can get.