May 17, 2002
Writing humor
Heh. Overheard on Comedy Central: "Yeah, I'm working on a book. I'm really excited about it. Some writers write in first person, some write in third person, my book is in fifth person. Every sentence begins with, 'I know this guy who heard from this other guy...'"
Lisa, Inc.?
I've started really considering the implications lately of writing for profit and being a 'business'. My goal is to eventually quit the day job and write full-time, which means I need to start paying attention to the business aspects. Fortunately, it seems like working with accounting and accounting software as much as I do at the day job, I'm not quite as clueless as I thought I was. Now, however, I really do need to get my organizational skills together for things like recordkeeping, and actually plan things, instead of just doing what feels right all the time (not to knock my intuition, but a little planning can't hurt).
I'd like to start taking the office-in-home credit, for starters. And to do that, I really do need to get a desk I can actually write at. Although I have this great little separate office space (which in most homes would be a dining room), my desk is too small and too low and too cramped for me to comfortably sit and write at. So first on the wish list, a new desk -- which I really can't afford right now. I'm seriously considering asking for one for my birthday, instead of the overnight trip Mom and I were going to take.
If nothing else, having a good desk will save me the cost of going to Starbucks to write every morning, right? :)
It seemed appropriate...
On a whim, I sent "All the Lonely People" off to Weird Tales this morning. It hasn't been as edited to death as I'd like normally -- the only real feedback I've gotten aside from "very strange" were a few comments from Julie -- but I figured what the heck. Their submission guidelines said very specifically that they like fiction below 1000 words, so why not? Besides, it makes me feel better to have something out circulating.
Another 600+ words on "Computer Dating" this morning, in which our heroine is menaced by a scary stalker-type. That was a great deal of fun to write. I've noticed that when I get to a 'good part' I write so much faster than when things are sort of directionless. I love those moments. That's when the story starts to take on its own life. Still looking into various aspects of artificial intelligence. I spent a good part of yesterday reading about Alan Turing, which was interesting in and of itself.
