Chronological Order
While writing Manuscript 8, I realized that the story I wanted to tell was much larger than my initial scope (maybe not in words, but in content). Perhaps it was a weird place I ended up, but I felt that the novel needed to go deeper and deeper into the two main characters and their struggle. I began to spiral and twist in the wind. Knowing what I wanted to do, I had to decide what to do with Manuscript 8: 1) to keep going with sheer willpower or 2) take a break and research the necessary non-fiction to make that novel rich and multifaceted.
I chose the latter, and I ended up moving forward with Manuscript 9. Which has thrown me into a confounding predicament: which one came first? I’ve had this feeling before when I thought about how my manuscripts would be listed on a website or in the front of a book. But this is even more problematic because, in that situation, you could use the publication date to add their chronological order.
But here, in my internal filing system, I have two manuscripts and I jumped over an incomplete version to focus on the next one in the list. I fully plan to go back to Manuscript 8 and have been researching it, but can I still call it Manuscript 8? [Click “Read More” to… well… watch me spiral]
Read MoreNew Category – In Memoriam
Writing is how I deal with loss and questions. I don’t know why, but when I hear of loss, my first thing to do is write haiku; perhaps it is me attempting to emblazon my feelings into a notebook at that moment in time and never let them slip away or be corrupted. Now, I’ve shared these haikus before but didn’t call them out as being for a specific person or the passing of that person. Moving forward, and with heavy heart, I have created a new category: In Memoriam to better help me tag and organize these memories. I have been contemplating this for a couple of years and finally decided that I would be implementing the new category due to losses around me recently. I don’t want to use it much and I may not use it at all (these feelings tend to be raw and I am not sure I do want to share them).
Read MoreGearing Up
A little while ago, I posted about getting back on the horse (wagon?) and writing. Shortly after that, I wrote no real blog posts. As always, it is important to note that writing for me has a priority order and this website is the lowest on that list. While I love waxing philosophical, it doesn’t grow my fiction content. However fiction may be a great place to hide those theories, my writing on the website and in these blogs, can be more pointed and direct.
Thus, I am hoping to get more posts out throughout this year. I made a challenge to myself awhile back to put out at least four posts per a month. I missed that mark at the end of the year even though I took off most of December to focus on manuscript 9 (working title, was: Captivated by a Dick in the Sand, now it is An Unforgettable Truth). However, I put down 25,000 words over two weeks and fleshed out the rest of the world. It was a great time.
Even as I say this, I realize that I’m postponing writing fiction to get this post out for the New Year (I said I would start on the 1st but… well, I got 6,000 words written that day). With that, I must away (not literally, I am going to stay in this chair and write on this keyboard, but it will grow manuscript 9 not the blog section of this website). Have a wonderful New Year and be productive!
Unsolicited Conversation
Cold Coffee, bitter
Smiles dot the morning – Relax
embrace the discourse
~Theodore Maestranzi
Read MoreWhy Reviews are Garbage – Part 2 of N
I am back and I figured I would begin by focusing on an old series I had not updated in awhile: Why Reviews are Garbage – Part 1 of N. Since I initially began the process of outlining how this topic (Reviews being Garbage), I had a good friend visit me to do a writers workshop. During that visit, we took the time to “spiritually” debate some topics. Now, if you haven’t figured it out yet, I debate like an asshole. Since I had begun the preparation for this series before he had arrived, but we somehow got to the topic of reviews, and I began utilizing my research as part of our discussion. The reason I am beginning with this little story is to show that these arguments have been tested in a whimsical three hour debate. One of the first pieces we discussed was the concept of a corporation buying reviews. [Click “Read More” for 1800 words of critical analysis]
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