Writing is Good, Reading...Not So Much

I've been writing less, so I can research more.  I think the page count is up around 5,000 pages or so, at this point.  Its pretty boring stuff.  Most of this junk is gender studies type nonsense, nobody cares to read, but if you need to refute some idiot's arguments you have to know what he said and all that.  I  had to go out of town for a few days, so now I'm really behind.  I did manage to have this weird dream where it was 1980 and I was telling Reagan about his future as president, I told Barbara Bush to have a talk with her sons George and Jeb, and I was talking to Donald Trump about his future as president.  I think this had something to do with some sci-fi stuff I've been working on, either that, or it has something to do with the four Aleve I took before bed that night...

Traffic

I work typically anywhere between 40 to 60 hours a week, and have on occasion worked 70 or 80.  I also spend about 20-25 hours a week driving to work and driving home.  See, I live in Orange County, and my job in L.A. County is 70 miles away from home.  I'm usually in traffic 2 hours one way, and 2 hours back.  Its like a part time job just to go to work and come home.  Yesterday I did a job in Santa Cruz, and to get back home it was 399 miles of driving.  I've seen plenty of people who are distracted drivers, the guy who drops something he's eating, to the woman putting on mascara in the rearview mirror, its all so very annoying.  Lately I've been the victim of rubbernecking and frightened drivers who can't put on their big boy pants and drive a little faster.  Rush hour is obnoxious as people drive slow not because there's an accident, but because there's more than 10 or 15 cars on the road as the same time.  I regularly take the 5 freeway, and it is full of stupid people who can't drive fast from Burbank all the way to the Orange County line because there's other people driving.  The best though, would have to be people who rubberneck to watch other people getting traffic tickets who are clearly pulled off to the side of the road and not blocking any lanes.  California used to be a nice place to live.  Nice weather, fairly nice people.  But there's always some stretch of highway that's under construction constantly, and instead of finishing one project at a time there's 50 million going on simultaneously.  There's stupid people here now, stupid people running things, and drivers.  I want to leave California now.  Between traffic and how expensive it is to be here, its a bit much.

Back to Researching

So it seems, I'm back to reading heavily for a few projects.  I'm researching prisons for my novel, a book on manhood, and a book on abortion.  I'm going to cut down the number of things I'm reading, but not when I'm reading.  I'm trying to pretend I'm still in college, so I can get into a quicker reading habit, but I'm reading 5 books now.  The plan is be finished writing two books by the end of the year. So I'm trying to work a bit more feverishly.  Yay.

Page 21

I've finished the first 20 pages of writing on this book!  Huzzah!  Now its just another 20 or 30 and I think I'm done.  This novella thing is going well, and I think I'm feeling comfortable and happy about writing again.  I've been stuck a lot recently, but I accidentially fell into something cool that helped my story, and its helping making the story more interesting.  Its Indenpendence Day weekend, and I took an extra day off, so now I've an extra day to write, and to celebrate America.  I think it might be time to have some BBQ, fireworks, and work on page 21.

Villainy

I'm trying to write in 3 villians into my novel.  I suppose I should say novella, because its likely this story is going to be shorter than a standard novel.  I'm trying to keep my projects shorter because the attention span of people these days, myself included, is shorter.  We'll stay focused on things we care about, but trying something new, sometimes require some effort, so I'm trying to keep things shorter.  But back to the villians.  3 is a little overkill especially in a shorter project, and especially since most books, only have really 1 antagonist.  It seems realistic to me that you may have more than just one enemy in life, and so having a couple more, maybe because they're evil, and maybe because they can be bought, would seem to fit.  I'm not worried about 3 bad guys, as I am making sure I can tie up all the loose ends in thr story nicely.

Anger

There's plenty to write about if you've got the right motivation.  Especially if you've got people who've done everything they can to bury, humiliate, and destroy you.  There are times when we've hit some tremendously difficult winter times, and in those time you find out who you're friends really are.  Occasionally things happen because we make bad decisions, and sometimes we face difficulty because of other people's idiotic choices.  I could tell you stories, but no doubt you've seem some of your own, because that's part of the human experience, or whatever.  We live an in age where people are thin skinned liars and cheats.  Everyone gets a trophy, and people sweep their own failures under the rug, but don't mind watching people's lives implode on national television.  There is always someone out to get you.  Not everyone is like that, and not everyone wants to expend the energy it takes to want to control, dictate, or ruin other people's lives.

Of course our natural reaction is to be angry at such things, and rightly so.  Anger is never the problem, what we do with that anger is.  We can be angry with ourselves, with circumstances, or with others, but if we do it right, anger can be motivation.  I won't get into specifics, but I've seen people lie about me, even wish me dead, and there would be a time, when such things overwhelmed.  Often the process is long to deal, but once you figure out what to do with your anger, its a great thing.  Eventually it sort of disappears into something else.  Motivation.  Now I want to get rich and not look back.  It would make a ton of things easier, and I can do some things like pay off bills, and...well...lounge all day like the rich do.  And of course if the writing thing is successful, if anyone is successful at anything, you stick it to people who doubted, belittled, or tried to ruin for their own wacky ends.  Motivation.  Its whats for dinner.

Sigh Fi

I'm working on this science fiction thing, which is probably going to be a book, is dragging a little.  I'm actually making some progress on it, and I'm thinking about including images into it, to give it a certain pop, that words alone might not be able to convey.  I'm struggling to find an ending, even though this thing is writing itself.  It might even be the first real project I get to finish though, if I can finish it.  It seem pretty likely that I can finish it maybe by the end of the summer, or at the latest the end of the year.  The only slightly difficulty will be coming up with illustrations and images.  I can't draw.  And I'm not in the mood to try and track somebody to do them for me either.  I might be able to do some basic illustrations with a computer, since these don't have to be too great, just enough to get my point across.  But who knows?

Got more writing done at lunch today too.  Its wasn't a huge amount, but it was enough to get around a couple of roadblocks I was stuck in the last couple of weeks.  I'm going to try and make a conscious effort to do some writing on my lunch break even if its a sentence.  Its helpful to be the mindset to write, and the mindset to think about my work more than just when I've got "time" for it.