Blog post No. 467
I have a terrible memory. Which is funny since a lot of my posts over the last few years have been about me looking back on my past. But really, outside of a general vague sense of my childhood, I have a handful of vivid memories that stand out. For some reason (or several reasons more likely) a number of those memories are about Halloween. Sure, Halloween is over, but I’m on a roll with these posts about my personal past and I hate how the minute November starts it’s somehow Christmas season already. So I’m dragging my feet and trying to keep October alive for one more week. The biggest reason is likely that I love the holiday. I’ve loved it ever since I was a child. It was like Christmas but without the obligations. Halloween is a real holiday for kids (and drunken adults, I suppose). Continue reading “Ghosts of Halloween Past”
For some reason, the nostalgia that overwhelms me in Autumn seemed to hit later this year. Sure, the post about 
I’m no musician, but music has always played a big role in my life. I really struggle when I don’t have music playing when I sit down to write. I’m sure I’ve mentioned many times that some days I spend as much time choosing what to listen to while I write as I do actually writing. A few times when Adventure Worlds was getting started, I would forget to bring headphones with me when the group got together to write. It seems a little pathetic, but I would really struggle on those days. Eventually, I bought a cheap pare of earbuds to keep in my backpack so that I always have some when I go out writing. (Not that I’ve been able to do that for some time). 
I’ve always felt like there was something special about Saturdays. I mean, Sundays have their place and a weekday when everyone else is at work has its own kind of magic, but Saturdays hold extra promise. It may have something to do with the hold over from Friday nights (when a person can feel most free depending on their work situation) or it could be tied in with my childhood era of Saturday mornings with cartoons, cereal, and cold hockey arenas. Even though every day job I’ve ever had includes some or most Saturday shifts, when I have a Saturday free, there is little like it.
We had anther
Anyone who knows me probably knows that I’ve never been much of a group person. Most of the time I’m fine to just go it alone. That’s a good thing when it comes to writing since, for the most part, writing is a solo effort. There is a definite need for outside help when it comes to editing, but no one can write a story for you. With that in mind, I’ve found that there is a benefit to being part of a group (especially when the group is composed of good folks). Sometimes people will get under my skin, no matter how great they are or how well intentioned, but that’s my problem and I’ve been dealing with it. 
I haven’t started the second draft of Snow from a Different Sky, yet. I hope to get into it this coming week (and really jump in with both feet). I’m also not done going over 
I’m still sitting on the first draft of Snow from a Distant Sky right now. I need to leave enough time between drafts to get nice and critical about my own writing (and to forget a little about what I meant when I wrote awkward sentences so that I can notice and fix them). The trick is not waiting too long and deciding what to do in the mean time. I’ve found that I need at least two weeks between the first and second drafts (though three is better) but I’m still not great with effectively using that down time. Sure, I don’t have to be totally productive at all times. It’s a good thing to take a break and burning out is a real potential problem. My issue is falling out of the routine and picking it back up again. 
It may not be a record for the most words written in the shortest amount of time (I’d have to do math to verify it) but it is a record for the fastest first draft I’ve ever written. In 29 days I managed to write just under 40 000 words and somehow managed to stop writing any more. That is to say, the last three installments in this novella series all went longer that I had intended (some much longer than others). But now it’s early September (
It’s hot outside. Like, seriously hot. Some people have no idea what the part of Canada where I live is like. The area used to be a swamp. In the summers we get heat waves that may look quaint to people who live in more southern climates, but our heat is wet. It sticks to you. When we reach 32 degrees Celsius (about 80 Fahrenheit) it feels like 40 degrees with the humidity (104 F). Again, that doesn’t look like much to someone who sees 120 F in Arizona, but the humidity is a killer. 
Ben Van Dongen 