Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Writing

The other times I've mentioned the writing bug biting again, I haven't done anything with that impulse. I've let myself get busy with other things until the urge to write passed.

This time I'm writing.

Yesterday I wrote 1,000 words. Today writing was even easier and I wrote nearly 2,500 words. Now, I'm not working on the WWII story that's become the bane of my existence. I started something different. A contemporary.

Probably nothing will come of it. I'm not writing with marketing in mind. No one may ever see it. It's different from what I usually write. I just had to prove to myself that I can still write. The WWII had me so bogged down that the thought of writing has become horrifying.

But this story is fun. I know exactly where the plot is going--it's based on a dream I had. So although I'm getting off to a slow start because I'm rusty, I think my pace will pick up and I'll finish this one fairly quickly. Then I'll see if it's worth polishing. And then I'll see if I feel like getting back to the WWII.

After that first thousand words, I was so proud of myself for writing at all that I immediately wanted someone to read it. Is it any good? Does it make sense? I talked myself out of emailing it to my critique partner. It's a first draft, for crying out loud.

But I'm writing again. Hallelujah.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Everything went smoothly

My dad came through his surgery just fine. He's been in quite a bit of pain, but I guess that was to be expected.

Pathology confirmed that it was cancer. But the tumor was self contained, and the lymph nodes in the area were clear. Now that the kidney is gone, he's cancer-free. He'll probably be released tomorrow.

Thank you for your prayers. I'm so grateful for the lasting friendships I've made through this blog. Writing isn't a priority for me right now, much less blogging. But I'm happy to say that the writing bug has been nibbling, so we'll see what happens.