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Being Snowed In is Good for Writing (but bad for blogging)Posted by dhoffman on March 1st, 2010

I was a bad blogger but a good writer this weekend; I figure it works out alright for me in the end.

Let’s see.  I think I mentioned that we finally got what I would call legitimate snowfall over here.  The drifts were up to my hips and the front door would have been blocked if it opened out instead of in.

I was quite happy.  I love snow.

But, all things must pass and the snow is melting nicely.

I worked from home on Friday, then spent the afternoon Saturday on Chapter Six.  It’s been a vexing chapter, but I finally cracked it and that means last night I was able to start in on Chapter Seven.

It’s been a fun chapter so far.  I’m getting to write for a character that’s different from someone I’ve written for before.

Animals is about 4,000 pages heavier today than it was on Thursday.  I wouldn’t want to think about how many actual words I wrote, then got rid of, but 4,000 is a pretty good place to be.

This week is threatening to be quieter than last week, an Official Good Thing.  I may revisit Six for some minor tweaking, and I’d love to push through Seven and get to Eight; not entirely sure what Eight’s going to be — if it’s one type of chapter or another — and I’m excited to find out.

Past that, I should have another chunk from the First Draft which will survive somewhat intact.  And then we’ll be past the half-way mark and that’s also quite exciting.

Boom!Posted by dhoffman on February 25th, 2010

We’ve got a little snowstorm going on out here in the Northeast.  Most of our “snowstorms” this season have been anything but.  An inch here, two inches there.

This one seems like it might go the distance.

We haven’t lost power yet, but about a half-hour ago, as I was sitting here mulling over what I might write tonight, I heard a crackle and then a boom.  Shuffled over to the great room (where the outside light switches are) and Jessy says, “it’s just snow falling off the roof.”

Well, maybe not.

There is — or was — a big tree in our backyard.  In point of fact, it pretty much takes up, in the summer, the entire backyard.  This is not because our yard is small — it’s because this tree is massive.

Well, was, at any rate.

Now, I have no idea if this is going to work or not, as I’ve never tried doing this before, but let’s see if WordPress can actually embed a gallery in this post:

Huh.  That worked alright.  A new toy!

Alrighty . . . back to work.

Surviving the SnowpocalypsePosted by dhoffman on March 3rd, 2009

Just one of those boring posts where I say how it was a good night for getting stuff done, now Chapter Three is progressing along, how the world is a sunshiney place and how we’ve survived the Snowpocolypse (we got just under two inches here — oh, the humanity).

Honestly, after all the writing tumlet the past week or so, a nice, boring, productive night is just what the doctor ordered.

Flee The Coming Snowpocalypse!Posted by dhoffman on March 2nd, 2009

I find it interesting that the more I’m looking forward to writing it, the more it seems to fight me to keep from being written.

This happened in Lions Together are Called a Pride.  There was a scene I had in my head the entire time I was writing the book.  When I finally got there (it’s about 4/5 of the way through the book) I found . . . well, not much.

Oh, the idea was solid — still is — but the words were on strike.

That’s been happening with this chapter, as well.  The ideas are solid, but I keep getting away from myself.  I’m whipping off on tangents and I need to give myself a smack upside my head to get back on track.

Gradually, slowly, I’m pulling it off.  I’ve got about five pages of rock-solid stuff (and another thirty or so pages of discarded stuff) and every day when I stop, I can’t help but feel that tomorrow it’s going to all fall into place.

And it does!  Just not the way I hope it will.

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We’ve got a pair of Winter storms hitting us tonight.  Turning on the news, one might get the impression that snow is (a) poisonous or, (b) able to melt human flesh, with the way newscasters are losing their minds over the incoming, “Snowpocalypse”.

Folks, it’s snow.

Get over it.

It’s barely even sticking, thus far.

Now, I like the snow.  I miss the kind of snow I saw during my four years at college in Wisconsin.  Further, one of my best friends just moved back to Wisconsin with his fiance last week.  I’m jealous of him and the magnificent Winters I know he’ll be enjoying up there (“enjoying” in that sentence means, “suffering through and praying for death, but in a homey sort of way”).

The Weather Channel called these storms the “Northeastern Mega Storm”.

Slow news day, folks?

Whenever I feel badly that the words are coming slowly, I just have to turn on the television and see the terrible, terrible stuff coming out of people’s mouths and then I feel a little better about my own words.