Creative Spurt

I've reached a plateau in my work on Dragon Moon, mostly due - at least, so I believe - due to my incredibly high annoyance levels. As I've said before, as much as I love my job, there are stresses that come with it that tend to accumulate (much like squeegee people at particularly busy stop lights). Normally, that stress tends to just evaporate after work, because all I need is a nice quiet hour or so to myself to slough off even the worst of moods. As I cannot currently get this quiet time, my mood over the last week has been fluctuationg between mildly pissed off and psudeo-homicidal.

As my annoyance levels were running high, I promised myself that I wouldn't have to write anything again until after I had moved. I desperately need a healthy mental environment in which to create. Besides, I had also reached a point in my novel where I didn't have a strong idea of what was going to happen next. The first 25,000 words or so just poured out of me, because I had that part pretty much mapped out in my head.

So, I took about a 10 day break. Last night, I sat down and just decided to read what I have so far, and ended up putting in another 1,500 words or so, which pleased me. Rather than worrying about where the story was going or what to do next, I just expanded upon ideas that were already there, and added some good detail.

I'm still learning a lot about the writing process itself; the techniques that work for me, and those that do not. I know I don't respond well to pressure, and if I feel I have to write, I am much more likely to refuse to write.

I'm currently under the gun to finish transcribing my grandmother's autobiography for Christmas. I hadn't planned on doing it that quickly, but apparently it would mean a lot to her if it could be done for the Holidays. I love my grandmother very, very much (if you are laughing to yourself right now, you are a filthy, filthy bastard), so I am going to do my best to make sure that this takes place. Ideally, I will get it done and published online in time to actually give her the first copy of her book.

On the more visual side, please see the sidebar to the right, and check out some of my graphic art. Ok, so its pretty dark for the most part, but there is a lot of stuff that isn't too dark. :)

On the movie side of things, Craig and I are doing some great work on Backsliding. I like what we have so far; considering that I tend to be my own worst critic, I think that is saying something. Even if nothing ever comes of this, and the movie is never made, I will feel the time spent has been well-invested, as we have produced a truly good quality product.

The Dark Show is not going as well as I would have liked. There are four of us working on this project, and it becomes very difficult to get that many people together at the same time. I've pretty much put that script on hold for the holiday season, but we'll pick up after New Years. At that time, I'm just going to pick a weekly meeting time, and whoever can make it can make it, and we will just work with the people we have to get things done.