May 23, 2011, Did you Write?

May 23, 2011, Did you Write?

It is that time of the week again to report about your life, and of course, your writing. Posting, whether you write is the incentive to actually do some work as no one really wants to say, "No I did not write." If you know you are going to post, no matter what, you will want to say yes to the question.

We all can agree that new writing is writing. Editing is also writing since few of us can write perfect the first time, and it even counts as writing if you are editing the works of others. Critiquing is also editing and therefore counts as writing. Poetry, blogging, writing assignments, technical writing, articles, world and character creation, and even E-mails can be writing if they are wordy and pertain to story or writing. If you have to ask, the answer is yes it is writing.

There is no word count that matters, The more the better. If you edit, your word count can go down, and there are times where that is the goal, to make it fit the space of a publication. One can write one word, or a million words. It does not matter. If you open some work in progress or even an empty page, that counts. If you do something, so much the better. A little work each week adds up to a lot of words over time. The idea is to make writing a habit, since not all habits are bad.

As for me, my total word count was disappointing. I can say that I kept going back over stuff I already wrote and making corrections and improving on it. I need to finish up the end part of the story, which I have potted out but not detailed. I keep reading over what I had and seeing how it can be better. One thinks of things that can be done better. Luckily this is a short piece so that is not a serious problem.

I am still at 45 story ideas in my compost pile. Ideas came in short bursts where I got several, then went a while without anything new. With missing several days of posting, I am caught up for the month. I did get to use up a story idea I thought sure was going to sink to the bottom, because of the end-of-the-world people. That is always a nice feeling.

I made some spin tops this weekend. You send them spinning with a flick of your fingers. it dawned on me that they could well make good Christmas ornaments too. All they need is an eye hook on the top.
A story idea came to me from that.
They are a people that consider practical items as art. One guy has a polished engine block sitting in his garden. A woman has a back-hoe bucket in her great room, filled with pillows to be used as a couch. Another woman has a photocopier without the panels on it sitting on a shelf over her mantle.
What came to mind, and great for a story idea, is that a guy has the warhead of a thermal nuclear bomb sitting next to the television and it is armed. He does not have the worst kind of art work.
Officials get a clue as to what these people have as art, and then have to figure out how to removed the objects so the region will be safe for habitation.

As to the question of the week,

YES, I DID WRITE.

DID YOU WRITE?