Dialogue and Birthday Weekend Writing Goal #barrioblues

This morning, I was thinking about yesterday's dialogue lecture I gave to my creative writing students.  There was a lot of great advice in that lecture that I need to take or reaffirm.  Like, remember that less is more.  Dialogue should move the story along.  And of course, analyze the dialogue from favorite stories and novels (like Misery).  Sometimes going back to the basics is a great idea, especially when you are in a writing funk, which apparently I am in right now.  Again.

Regardless, this weekend, I have the grandiose goal of finishing my short story collection.  It's become grandiose because I have been making a big mountain out of my writing, instead of putting hard work into it and enjoying the process.

One of the issues with the last story is that the main character's overall desire is not clear.  She wants to go to college, but she is struggling financially, since her father abandoned her.  Maybe that could be her goal, getting to college.  She is also dealing with the bullshit of being a teenager and social pressures to lose her virginity. 

Anyway, I'm going to write through the muck because it's not a word vomit sort of day.  I am also going to evaluate my writing schedule; I haven't been getting up to write at 3a.m. like I have in the past, and when I was getting up, I was too tired to write because of my regular job.  Evening writing is out of the question, so I may have to start getting up at 5a.m. and just work for an hour because evenings are almost impossible, since I make dinner for the kids and grade papers or read.  We will see. 

(And just like that I produced about five more pages.  Thank God!)

Write through the muck or migraines or children making noise like you have 20 instead of 2. #barrioblues

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