Day 46: It is emotionally costly to write well...

"...Dancers, for example, know that they're going to have bloody feet. Pianists know that they'll have to practice until the pain in their fingers makes them cry. Writing a novel is not like writing a letter. Writing a novel is mentally exhausting, far harder than a nine-to-five job. When you write a novel, you live the lives of your characters."

You bet!

It is tough. Really. Of course, unless you're on the flow; but then you worry about if anyone is going to like it. Maybe all you write so excitedly turns out to be junk. Or be seen as junk.

Side note: I play piano. I don't think you're play till the pain in the fingers makes you cry. I used to play quite long--4-6 hours everyday--and I never got any finger pain. I was on the flow. In the zone.

The point is taken though.

Some more revisions:

http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1655035-An-endless-failing-pursuit-temp-title1

Don't forget my other short story:
http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1567145-Prince-Vingo-Imperfect-love

54 days...

Day 45: Anton Chekhov’s remarkably simple advice was this:

"“If a gun hangs on the wall in the first act of the play, it must be discharged before the end.” You have to “look” at the total work with that piece of advice in mind and cut out anything that doesn’t help the story complete itself."

In other words, every word in the story has a purpose to be there. Our real life there are many things going on, and they probably are not exactly all related. But in the story, every move and every event has a purpose to be there. Every word said leads us to the evolution of the story.

Some more revisions:

http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1655035-An-endless-failing-pursuit-temp-title1

Don't forget my other short story:
http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1567145-Prince-Vingo-Imperfect-love

55 days...

Day 44: Don’t get discouraged. Keep writing.

"Remember the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Ironweed by William Kennedy was rejected by 13 publishers before Saul Bellow intervened on its behalf. In rejecting Laurence J. Peter’s The Peter Principle, an editor wrote that he could “foresee no commercial possibilities in such a book.”"

Just take a look at this:
14 Best-Selling Books Repeatedly Rejected by Publishers

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/14-best-selling-books-repeatedly-rejected-by-publishers.htm/printable

Amazing... I can't believe those authors have been rejected so many times. My stories have only been rejected like 2-3 times; guess I still can work on it.

The problem is I can't find proper publishers.

Really, I don't expect to be some great writer; I know I have a lot to improve. But I write w/ my heart, and I believe I'm progressing. So far probably no one really reads them. But I'll keep writing. At least I have to finish doing something.

Some more revisions:

http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1655035-An-endless-failing-pursuit-temp-title1

Don't forget my other short story:
http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1567145-Prince-Vingo-Imperfect-love

56 days...

Day 43: The Roman poet Horace observed...

"...around 14 B.C. that writers should attempt “to say at once what ought at once to be said.” In other words, grab your reader by the throat from your very first sentence."

You mean, like, a shocking opening/statement or catchy twist? Something like "she had an affair while her husband was lying on his sickbed" or "little did he know that this woman was going to make him pay back what he had done to her years ago"?

BTW, I committed to this project by devoting at least 30 minutes everyday so far. But I just can't write 300-400 words a day. Sometimes I write just 2 sentences. Yes, it sometimes takes me a whole 30 minutes to come out that 2 sentences. The progress is slow but kind of steady. I probably won't finish this story in the first 100 days. But I can keep going.

Some more revisions:

http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1655035-An-endless-failing-pursuit-temp-title1

Don't forget my other short story:
http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1567145-Prince-Vingo-Imperfect-love

57 days...

Day 42: Good characters grow and evolve out of basically two things...

"...their actions and their beliefs. We develop a sense and understanding of people by what they do and think in the dramatic events of the story."

I see... guess that's why good stories always involve people with difficult situations and strong emotions.

Some more revisions:

http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1655035-An-endless-failing-pursuit-temp-title1

Don't forget my other short story:
http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1567145-Prince-Vingo-Imperfect-love

58 days...

Day 41: "Thinking about it all day"

"Shirley Jackson, as the mother of four children and wife of a college professor, rarely had time to write during the day. Yet when she sat down at her desk at night, a story like “The Lottery” flowed out in a perfect first draft. Why? Because she had been thinking about it all day. Count on your subconscious taking charge and “working over” ideas that come to you during the day."

(Gee, google isn't connecting right; I hope this one can be posted on time.)

Yea, I do that. I thought about this story during the day, especially when I have to be somewhere that is boring and/or time consuming, and I have nothing else to do.

Some more revisions:

http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1655035-An-endless-failing-pursuit-temp-title1

Don't forget my other short story:
http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1567145-Prince-Vingo-Imperfect-love

59 days...

Day 40: "Power and precision"

"Rick Bass, one of our finest stylists, says that fiction writers — like masons — require both power and precision to construct a good story. “You’ve got to lay the stones one on top of the other so they fit together, but you’ve got to have the strength to lug them around.”"

I'm not sure how much I can learn from this one. Power and precision? I probably need someone to elaborate for me. This sounds a bit like "If you want to get good grades, you'll have to study hard." The problem is we all know we should study hard, but how? By studying all day and all night?

I guess this is a general principle for us to search ourself.

Some more revisions:

http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1655035-An-endless-failing-pursuit-temp-title1

Don't forget my other short story:
http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1567145-Prince-Vingo-Imperfect-love

60 days...