Blogging is one of those activities I enjoy, but I happen to enjoy writing fiction much more, and as a result I don’t post often. In fact, when I looked at my last entry, it was just after World Fantasy 2010–that’s pretty sad, but I’ve gone through many changes over the past year so I don’t feel too bad about skipping the blog.

In January we moved to Colorado, specifically, Evergreen–a small town up in the Rocky Mountains. Our home is at around 8000 feet, and needless to say, it took a while to get acclimated. P90X at this altitude was pretty crazy, but I’ve since conquered that. The move to Colorado was day job related, but I have to say, my writing environment has never been better.

Speaking of writing, I’ve written more short stories in the past nine months than in the 2.5 years I spent in the D.C. area. Some of that is the lovely environment I’m in now, and some is the work situation–I was miserable at my last assignment, and now I’m happy at the day job.

Speaking of the day job, well, I’ve already traveled more for work in the past nine months than in the 2.5 years I spent in the D.C. area. I’ve been to some really cool places such as Alaska and Seattle, and of course I had to go back to D.C. (which I’d normally enjoy, but was under some major time constraints and couldn’t visit all the people on my list).

I’ve also traveled a little for my second job: writing. In June, I spent ten days on the Oregon Coast attending a Short Story Workshop taught by Kristine Kathryn Rusch with special appearances by Dean Wesley Smith. I highly recommend attending that workshop. Kris pushed me so hard that week, but I’ve never had more fun writing. The other writers I met at the workshop were incredible and I’m honored to have met them.

In August, I attended the World Science Fiction Convention held in Reno, NV. I met many wonderful people there as well as running into people I became acquainted with at World Fantasy last year, and I’m now able to name them friends. The relationship building at the conventions is the big draw for me, but many of the panels were informative. I roomed with Griffin Barber during the convention and had a blast–he’s a great wingman and always entertaining (he’s also a darn good writer, check out his blog it’s great and he updates it quite often). I also had the great privilege of having multiple meals with Griffin and Mark L. Van Name (author of multiple novels and all-around great guy), as well as catch a movie (the Fright Night remake which was pretty decent really).

Also at World Con I had a short story critiqued by Jay Lake and Eytan Kollin. The critique went well and Jay said he could see that particular story published in Realms of Fantasy if I tightened it up a bit–very awesome. And speaking of Jay Lake, I attended the Hugo Awards (with Mark Van Name) which Jay emceed with Ken Scholes – the ceremony was very entertaining.

Griffin and I also met with author Chuck Gannon at what they call a kaffeeklatsch. We discussed what Chuck was currently working on as well as Eric Flint’s 1632 universe. Chuck was able to provide some guidance regarding stories Griffin and I are working on independently for the Grantville Gazette.

And one last note regarding World Con:  I may have stumbled upon a writing opportunity there that I’ll be discussing at World Fantasy this year in San Diego–very exciting.

I’ll probably attend MileHiCon this year now that I work in Denver and live close enough to Denver to make it worthwhile.

Well, that’s quite a bit for one post–hopefully I make posting to the blog more a regular thing!

I wrote a few scenes last night where I felt as if I were a master of the craft.  Those moments happen from time to time, and I’ve found some characters and situations much easier to write than others.  In fact, this particular character and setting is much easier for me to write than my main protagonist. 

So how do I deal with this problem?  Is it indeed a problem at all?  Yes and no.  I know that once I’m in revision mode for this book, I’ll be able to fix problems and polish the parts I was less comfortable with.  Even the parts I thought were brilliant upon writing will probably have plenty of errors.

It’s a great feeling when the ideas and dialogue spring from my fingertips like a rapidly flowing river, but that brings its own set of problems later.  I find more grammatical errors, and if I was writing dialogue, I notice that I’ve left out a lot of description and characterizations. 

For the times when the prose doesn’t flow I have other issues.  I find that I am constantly searching for the right word in my synonym finder.  This leads me to construct sentences that are filled with expensive words.  The end result is a sentence that does not flow, or read well.

I don’t go by a detailed outline.  I have an idea of where the entire story will end, and some ideas about how I’ll get it there.  Along the way the characters tend to dictate what will happen, and at times I am surprised at the outcome.  It is when the characters take over that I know the writing session will be inspired.  The other times are more difficult, but ultimately just as rewarding since I feel I’ve learned something about the craft, or at the very least, I’ve added a few more words to my vocabulary. 

As far as the entire project is concerned, I’m happy with the progress I’ve made.  I think I’ve improved as a writer over the course of the 100k words or so I’ve written so far.

Alistair

My vision for this online journal is to document all the joys, trials, frustration, and rewards of writing and just being alive!  I may write of other things from time to time that reflect my interests, but the focus will definitely be on writing.  :)

Alistair