Writing

On my vacation, I did a lot of reading. I mean a lot of reading. I went through at least half a dozen novels, as well as a book on Einstein’s life and work. (Einstein for Dummies, since I’m an idiot when it comes to physics... But I really want to understand the theory (theories) of Relativity, etc., because I hate feeling stupid.)

Incidentally, I also read Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, by John le Carré, which was great. I say this all the time, but if you’re into spy novels, I recommend this book, or anything else by this guy.

So, partially because I spent so much time reading, and partially because I was so well rested, I really wanted to do some writing. (I had been tempted to bring my laptop with me, just in case I got that urge, but didn’t bother because I didn’t know if Venezuela has the right type of electrical sockets. Of course they did, so I could have, but in retrospect it’s probably better that I didn’t, and just enjoyed my vacation.)

I had hoped to start writing as soon as I got home, but then I ended up spending my two extra days off on my pictures (which still aren’t done), and then I ended up back at work. Suddenly, now that I’m back in the grind, my urge to write has gone down again—when I’m stressed, I have much less of an urge to write, even if it’s just a little bit of stress.

But one thing I did want to work on was my descriptive writing, which, as I’ve mentioned, I don’t normally do. So I wanted to beef up my novel, and add some in. I even had a couple of parts where I thought could use some description—not the least of which is my main character, who isn’t described at all yet.

I gave it a shot last night, and I think I got mixed results. I didn’t even get to the part I wanted to beef up, because right at the beginning I saw an opportunity, and I took it. With a vengeance. Man, did I do some describin’. And I think I went way, way too far... So, at some point, when I can take a step back and read it critically, I’ll have to go over it again, and maybe take some of that description back out.

But I will say this: It was fun.