Of Inspiration and Cars (Patreon)

Hello!

An update was long overdue - apologies.  So, writing of Constant continues, though at a much slower pace than I'd like.  Real life stubbornly refuses to step aside and give me absolute freedom (probably a good thing, as I'd just squander it) - but in this case, real life decided to kill my car.  Not a surprise, really, as it was about 20 years old and its demise inevitable, but the timing wasn't great.  So, as I'm arranging financing to buy a new (used) replacement, I've been traveling to work on public transport.  This means getting up at 5am to get to work on time which, as might imagine, doesn't exactly lend itself to ample free time for writing.

On the positive side, it has forcefully returned some reading time to me.  While searching around online for some inspiration (and models of good 1st person writing) I stumbled across Brandon Sanderson's series of lectures on writing. 

(Inspiration has rather come from an unexpected source: Margaret Atwood's _Surfacing_ - her second novel, a rather less know one.  Stylistically, the way she writes in 1st person is vibrant and energetic, pacey without sacrificing depth.  I've mimicked the style in a few places in Chapter 5, trying out a few things.  Sanderson less so, simply because I haven't had the time to watch through those lectures yet.  They're long!)

I was aware of Sanderson as an author - mainly due to his remarkable record-breaking Kickstarter - but hadn't read a word of his previously, and didn't know any of his series.  So I picked up the first three books of the Mistborn trilogy last week, and am nearing the end of the first one, The Final Empire.  It's a long commute.

I've got mixed feelings about his style of writing, but his world-building is excellent and coherent.  When I look back at Constant, I wish I'd put a bit more effort into that aspect of it.  I'm trying to sneak into a few details here and there in these later chapters, but when I first started, like, fourteen years ago or something, it wasn't really a concern - I just wanted to write.  I had an endpoint in mind--which, remarkably, hasn't changed--but little else, and I definitely didn't expect it to run this long.

Realistically, though I plan to edit through the whole story once I've reached the end, I can't imagine putting in the heavy work that'd be required to really bring the whole story into a semi-professional level of coherence.  I'd love to!  But doubt I'll have the time for such a thing, especially when I could be moving on to another story.  

 Anyway, that was a rambling post - apologies.  I've passed the 8k mark on Constant, and should have a replacement car by the end of the week, so optimistically, I'll pick up the writing pace once again!  Cindy's "date" with Dan continues, as does his voyage to the Asklepios clinic.