Thursday, April 6, 2017

Weekly Word Count

What am I currently working on?
I've been working on some poems and character development in hopes of returning to my narrative project.

Word Count: 571* (I'm gonna be okay with that since I tend to be long-winded in my blog postings)

How do I feel about the process?
I haven't made a ton of progress in terms of words on paper...I'm getting rather bogged down in the details to be honest. I think it would be advantageous of me to work on a concrete outline in order to give myself a real sense of direction. I have a very general idea but it's time to nail down a less vague concept to build upon.

What am I currently reading?
One of my favorite things to do is check out the books for sale at the public library. I prefer to buy rather than rent books. I can hardly be trusted to return them. I once racked up $150 worth of late fees at the Thousand Oaks Library. I bet you didn't think that was even possible, did you? Yeah, neither did I. So much for the public library as a 'free' resource.

Anyway, it's just best I pay my dues up front so no one gets hurt...or publicly chastised as an incredibly irresponsible library card holder.

There is just something about coming across a book that someone else has cared enough for to own at one time. I like to peruse the shelves, head cocked to read the vertical titles, occasionally tilting a book from it's sandwiched position to further inspect it's potentiality. I've yet to be disappointed by any of the books I've purchased this way. Some of my favorite titles have included A Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling, The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory, The Unexpected Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce, as well as some non-novel books like Post-Secret: Confessions on Life, Death and God by Frank Warren and FOUND: The Best Lost, Tossed, and Forgotten Items from Around the World by Davy Rothbart. The latter two books are fascinating peepholes into the more secretive parts of society and highly entertaining. My latest find is a compilation of short stories by new writers called McSweeney's Unpublished, Unknown &/or Unbelievable. It features "twelve new stories from twelve new writers...plus twenty-nine stories written in twenty minutes each." I am enjoying getting a feel for different writing styles and ideas.

Oh! And per suggestion by Wade, I read Kate Chopin's The Storm last night and hope to start on her story The Awakening soon as well. Click on the links if you would like to read these online for free!

What am I currently watching?
I rarely have time to watch any shows of my choosing, although now that my kids are getting older, it's nice that they occasionally choose shows that are of interest to both of our age ranges. We end up watching a lot of Food Network and Nat Geo-type shows. I have, however, carved out some time to watch Lena Dunham's GIRLS (definitely an after-the-kids-are-asleep kind of show) and just discovered a new HBO show called Big Little Lies. I'm particularly interested in watching this program again because of the character development and varied story lines that are showcased. After watching the first episode, I think that I could gain a lot of insight in my own characterization by continuing to watch the show.

*P.S. Hey! What d'ya know? This blog post is nearly 600 words long...looks like I met that 1000 word goal after all. (wink-wink)

No comments:

Post a Comment