Sep 2009
Bye Bye Facebook
30/09/09 17:46 Filed in: Writing
So I closed my Facebook account today. Well, at least
as far as the people at Facebook will allow you to do
so.
Have you ever tried to close a Facebook page? It's not easy.
First, they move you to a page upon which they've posted photos of some of your "friends" with the caption, "X will miss you", under each one.
Then, if you insist on continuing, they force you to answer a questionnaire, justifying why you want to close your page.
If your reason is good enough, they require you to decipher some funky-shaped letters and identify them, on the grounds that you are proving you're not faking the whole thing. But, while I've done that funky-shaped letter thing before (when posting a comment on another person's website, for example), this is the first time the letters are so funky-shaped that it's practically impossible to tell what they are. It took me four tries to get it right and, if I hadn't, Facebook would have refused to close my page.
I even wrote into my questionnaire a specific request that they erase all of my data and information from their database. Did they do it? No. Moments later, I got an e-mail from Facebook telling me (surprise surprise) that I had closed my page and assuring me that, if at any point in the future I come to my senses, I can simply e-mail them and they'll relaunch it exactly as it is today. In other words, they're going to keep it in their memory banks.
I've been becoming increasingly uncomfortable with taking part in the whole Facebook phenomena (the lack of privacy, the fact that Facebook plays all kinds of games with your data) so my decision to quit should come as no surprise. I'm just grateful that I never really put much up there in the first place.
I doubt I'll miss it.
On the writing front, my fab sister Janice has gotten back to me with her comments on the first draft of the trial scene. Great comments! Really useful inside information on what goes on at a criminal trial. She even indulged herself in writing some fiction herself, which was a lot of fun to read too. Janice, you really should give writing a shot. Your prose is fun and entertaining.
I'm not much in the mood to write of late, however, so I'll probably hold off on continuing for a couple of days yet. But it is coming. And with help from Janice (and no more Facebook drivel) I can look forward to making more progress soon.
Have you ever tried to close a Facebook page? It's not easy.
First, they move you to a page upon which they've posted photos of some of your "friends" with the caption, "X will miss you", under each one.
Then, if you insist on continuing, they force you to answer a questionnaire, justifying why you want to close your page.
If your reason is good enough, they require you to decipher some funky-shaped letters and identify them, on the grounds that you are proving you're not faking the whole thing. But, while I've done that funky-shaped letter thing before (when posting a comment on another person's website, for example), this is the first time the letters are so funky-shaped that it's practically impossible to tell what they are. It took me four tries to get it right and, if I hadn't, Facebook would have refused to close my page.
I even wrote into my questionnaire a specific request that they erase all of my data and information from their database. Did they do it? No. Moments later, I got an e-mail from Facebook telling me (surprise surprise) that I had closed my page and assuring me that, if at any point in the future I come to my senses, I can simply e-mail them and they'll relaunch it exactly as it is today. In other words, they're going to keep it in their memory banks.
I've been becoming increasingly uncomfortable with taking part in the whole Facebook phenomena (the lack of privacy, the fact that Facebook plays all kinds of games with your data) so my decision to quit should come as no surprise. I'm just grateful that I never really put much up there in the first place.
I doubt I'll miss it.
On the writing front, my fab sister Janice has gotten back to me with her comments on the first draft of the trial scene. Great comments! Really useful inside information on what goes on at a criminal trial. She even indulged herself in writing some fiction herself, which was a lot of fun to read too. Janice, you really should give writing a shot. Your prose is fun and entertaining.
I'm not much in the mood to write of late, however, so I'll probably hold off on continuing for a couple of days yet. But it is coming. And with help from Janice (and no more Facebook drivel) I can look forward to making more progress soon.
Second and Last Chances
It's been an interesting week. New Brunswick has
tumbled headlong into fall, with temperatures
dropping sharply and rain alternating with sunshine
on a day-to-day basis. Most importantly, however,
almost every night brings a warning of frost, that
enemy of all things vegetable.
Since I planted most things late, as in at the end of May, my veggie plants are only at about the three-quarters stage of growth as autumn falls. While we've had a pretty good crop of beans (both string and runner), the tomatoes are still small and green, the cucumbers are just pickles, the carrots really want to be fully grown but aren't and the brussels sprouts, well, the poor brussels sprout plants. They just can't seem to generate enough oomph to put out a sprout or two.
And now comes frost. Tonight's forecast doesn't say "Frost Warning" it says "Frost". I guess it's time I accept that my lateness in planting is going to mean no vegetables whatsoever after tonight. So sad.
On the writing front, however, things are definitely more productive. I went back last night and did a full revision of the scene involving Shannon Olivier's appearance in court. I expanded it quite a bit and made some small adjustments and additions to the existing sections. Again, I think it reads pretty well. In fact, I'm quite proud of it.
I hope I can keep up the momentum. Time is such a challenge, though, with work hyping up and fall house chores arising and life just keeping on trucking.
And, of course, there are the other writing projects that keep calling out to me too. I had a really interesting conversation with a colleague in Saint John, who has read the Abigail Massey stories and seems to agree that a longer work (maybe a novel) that takes Abigail and her pals to Saint John in 1943 would be a good idea. So my colleague has been feeding me nifty tidbits about Saint John history, lots of ideas upon which I could base the book.
Abigail, it seems, is getting restless. She's bored just hanging around the McAdam Station and Hotel and craves another adventure.
Since I planted most things late, as in at the end of May, my veggie plants are only at about the three-quarters stage of growth as autumn falls. While we've had a pretty good crop of beans (both string and runner), the tomatoes are still small and green, the cucumbers are just pickles, the carrots really want to be fully grown but aren't and the brussels sprouts, well, the poor brussels sprout plants. They just can't seem to generate enough oomph to put out a sprout or two.
And now comes frost. Tonight's forecast doesn't say "Frost Warning" it says "Frost". I guess it's time I accept that my lateness in planting is going to mean no vegetables whatsoever after tonight. So sad.
On the writing front, however, things are definitely more productive. I went back last night and did a full revision of the scene involving Shannon Olivier's appearance in court. I expanded it quite a bit and made some small adjustments and additions to the existing sections. Again, I think it reads pretty well. In fact, I'm quite proud of it.
I hope I can keep up the momentum. Time is such a challenge, though, with work hyping up and fall house chores arising and life just keeping on trucking.
And, of course, there are the other writing projects that keep calling out to me too. I had a really interesting conversation with a colleague in Saint John, who has read the Abigail Massey stories and seems to agree that a longer work (maybe a novel) that takes Abigail and her pals to Saint John in 1943 would be a good idea. So my colleague has been feeding me nifty tidbits about Saint John history, lots of ideas upon which I could base the book.
Abigail, it seems, is getting restless. She's bored just hanging around the McAdam Station and Hotel and craves another adventure.
One Step Forward
23/09/09 09:19 Filed in: Writing
A good session of writing last night produced a draft
of the appearance in the witness box of the
complainant, Shannon Olivier. I'm pleased to say I
think it's a pretty good first effort. Thanks to some
sound advice from my sister Janice, a former Crown
Attorney, I think the cross-examination section is
especially effective.
I have sent the draft to Janice for her review.
Even still, however, I have now spent the last 12 hours ruminating over the draft and thinking up ways to improve it. While I think what I've done is good, I've also realised there are some key issues and key points that I have left out, both in the direct examination of the witness by Sharon Kyle and in Gold's cross-examination. So I have to go back again, hopefully tonight, to revise and add.
I'm finding this an interesting process. It involves a great deal more rethinking and revision than the usual prose because the criminal trial is such a specialised business. I'm also learning new respect for the lawyers on both sides of the bar who have to get it right the first time. They can't go home at night, realise what they've missed, then go back the next day and take another crack.
It's slow work for me as a writer but I'm very much enjoying it.
I have sent the draft to Janice for her review.
Even still, however, I have now spent the last 12 hours ruminating over the draft and thinking up ways to improve it. While I think what I've done is good, I've also realised there are some key issues and key points that I have left out, both in the direct examination of the witness by Sharon Kyle and in Gold's cross-examination. So I have to go back again, hopefully tonight, to revise and add.
I'm finding this an interesting process. It involves a great deal more rethinking and revision than the usual prose because the criminal trial is such a specialised business. I'm also learning new respect for the lawyers on both sides of the bar who have to get it right the first time. They can't go home at night, realise what they've missed, then go back the next day and take another crack.
It's slow work for me as a writer but I'm very much enjoying it.
And Finally, Progress
15/09/09 20:15 Filed in: Writing
Just getting up from 90 minutes of solid writing.
Another editing pass at the start of the trial scene,
then the complete examination and cross of the first
witness. Good, I hope.
What a feeling! Those kinds of blocks are really hard because they build upon themselves until they seem insurmountable. Scary, even. And you don't even really know what's causing the block.
I hope now I'm past it. I am hopeful that tomorrow night I'll be able to sit down and work some more on it, start to build a rhythm again.
I realise, even now, that I have probably had the Crown start with the wrong witness but that's okay. I can go back and insert the proper first witness (the victim) tomorrow. At least I got down to work and accomplished something.
Writing is hard work. In many cases, generating the ideas and working out the plot and character points is, actually, the easy part. Sitting down and writing each and every word, painting every scene, imagining the tiny moments and the little details of the larger scene, that's where the real work often comes in. Decision after decision, challenge after challenge.
An amazing process, really. In one simple scene, the writer makes a million decisions from how much description of the setting or a character to include, to whether or not there is a bench or two chairs, to how the character speaks, to whether or not she would light a cigarette before she gets angry or because she gets angry, to whether or not she gets angry in the first place. Millions of decisions.
Amazing. Exciting. Difficult.
What a feeling! Those kinds of blocks are really hard because they build upon themselves until they seem insurmountable. Scary, even. And you don't even really know what's causing the block.
I hope now I'm past it. I am hopeful that tomorrow night I'll be able to sit down and work some more on it, start to build a rhythm again.
I realise, even now, that I have probably had the Crown start with the wrong witness but that's okay. I can go back and insert the proper first witness (the victim) tomorrow. At least I got down to work and accomplished something.
Writing is hard work. In many cases, generating the ideas and working out the plot and character points is, actually, the easy part. Sitting down and writing each and every word, painting every scene, imagining the tiny moments and the little details of the larger scene, that's where the real work often comes in. Decision after decision, challenge after challenge.
An amazing process, really. In one simple scene, the writer makes a million decisions from how much description of the setting or a character to include, to whether or not there is a bench or two chairs, to how the character speaks, to whether or not she would light a cigarette before she gets angry or because she gets angry, to whether or not she gets angry in the first place. Millions of decisions.
Amazing. Exciting. Difficult.
New Barriers
13/09/09 09:44 Filed in: Writing
More excuses. That's all I've got. More excuses.
This time, golf is getting in the way of the writing. I was bound and determined last week to get back to The Silent Goodbye and then my favourite local golf course sent around a flyer saying, "If you pay 50% down on a membership for next year, you can play the rest of this year for free". How could I pass that up, especially since I didn't get a membership this year but planned to rejoin next summer?
So I paid the money and have now played five rounds of golf in the past week. And it is glorious! It gets in the way of finding time to write but it feels so good.
To add further distraction, today (Sunday) offers a sports-watcher's nirvana, with the first week of NFL football on several channels, the men's semi-finals and women's finals of the rain-delayed US Open Tennis Championships and the final round of the BMW Championship, the penultimate playoff golf tournament in the PGA's FedEd Cup competition, all playing gloriously across the TV this afternoon and evening.
Absolute heaven.
So I played 15 holes of golf yesterday, nine more first thing this morning and now I'm ready to settle in. Oh, I have a work-related meeting later this afternoon but I'll get through that and then settle in.
But I promise I'll be writing again this coming week. The goal, to have a draft of the entire trial finished by the middle of October. And, once that's done, the climax and conclusion is all that's left.
I may actually meet my self-imposed deadline of finishing the first draft by the end of 2009.
So all is not lost. Just delayed. Proof of how important it is to get on track when writing and stay the course (in non-golf terms, of course).
This time, golf is getting in the way of the writing. I was bound and determined last week to get back to The Silent Goodbye and then my favourite local golf course sent around a flyer saying, "If you pay 50% down on a membership for next year, you can play the rest of this year for free". How could I pass that up, especially since I didn't get a membership this year but planned to rejoin next summer?
So I paid the money and have now played five rounds of golf in the past week. And it is glorious! It gets in the way of finding time to write but it feels so good.
To add further distraction, today (Sunday) offers a sports-watcher's nirvana, with the first week of NFL football on several channels, the men's semi-finals and women's finals of the rain-delayed US Open Tennis Championships and the final round of the BMW Championship, the penultimate playoff golf tournament in the PGA's FedEd Cup competition, all playing gloriously across the TV this afternoon and evening.
Absolute heaven.
So I played 15 holes of golf yesterday, nine more first thing this morning and now I'm ready to settle in. Oh, I have a work-related meeting later this afternoon but I'll get through that and then settle in.
But I promise I'll be writing again this coming week. The goal, to have a draft of the entire trial finished by the middle of October. And, once that's done, the climax and conclusion is all that's left.
I may actually meet my self-imposed deadline of finishing the first draft by the end of 2009.
So all is not lost. Just delayed. Proof of how important it is to get on track when writing and stay the course (in non-golf terms, of course).
Hard Reality
08/09/09 19:30 Filed in: Writing
I have to accept it. It's a hard reality but it
is reality: I'm blocked.
I've been making excuses on this blog for some time now but it's time I faced the fact that I am now facing a pretty nasty case of writer's block with regard to The Silent Goodbye. Even as I type that, my mind is coming up with all kinds of excuses: I'm too busy, work is overwhelming, too much to do at home, I'm working on other projects, etc. But the fact is, I'm blocked.
That's hard. And it's even harder because I know exactly what I should be writing. I just can't force myself to sit down and write it. That's sad. I am still working on the Phillip Gold Concordance and I'm still reading through the Harry Potter series again (I'm actually savouring book seven once again, forcing myself to read it slowly and deeply). That's fine. But I should be writing.
I'll get there. I set as my goal to complete a draft of the novel by the end of the year and that is still extremely do-able. I just wish I could get going again.
Maybe tonight.
I've been making excuses on this blog for some time now but it's time I faced the fact that I am now facing a pretty nasty case of writer's block with regard to The Silent Goodbye. Even as I type that, my mind is coming up with all kinds of excuses: I'm too busy, work is overwhelming, too much to do at home, I'm working on other projects, etc. But the fact is, I'm blocked.
That's hard. And it's even harder because I know exactly what I should be writing. I just can't force myself to sit down and write it. That's sad. I am still working on the Phillip Gold Concordance and I'm still reading through the Harry Potter series again (I'm actually savouring book seven once again, forcing myself to read it slowly and deeply). That's fine. But I should be writing.
I'll get there. I set as my goal to complete a draft of the novel by the end of the year and that is still extremely do-able. I just wish I could get going again.
Maybe tonight.
A Brief Update
04/09/09 23:05 Filed in: Writing
In the meantime, life has gotten very busy, both at work and at home. That makes things somewhat stressful and leaves less time for writing and other interesting stuff. I'm pleased with the progress I've made on the Concordance but it does mean that I have not written any more of the novel itself, The Silent Goodbye. So much for the good rhythm I had gotten into some time ago.
This entry also gives me a chance to show off two photos I took of a Great Blue Heron during a recent trip to Alma, NB. I'm pretty happy with the photos and with the massive bird that let me get that close before flying away!