You know, it's kind of nice to receive a compliment on my writing.

[Writer]

I'm taking an advanced fiction class, and I wrote a very short piece for a homework assignment that I thought was terrible.

Lo and behold, the instructor loved it! I was very touched.

Compliments always overwhelm me. If they concern my writing, I'm especially overcome.

~Writer~

[Starbucks Anarchist]

1. Nice!

I feel the same way about my writing. :toast:

[Writer]

2. Yeah, cheers to that.

:toast:

[Starbucks Anarchist]

3. Can you post a sample or no?

[Writer]

4. Well... sure, why not. You need to know a bit about the exercise, however.

The idea was to write a scene that "feels like it just came out of a dream."

It's just a scene. A short. Here it is:

The painting sits on its easel in the corner, the soft sunlight from the nearby window casting a white haze over the colored parchment. The small sitting room pales in dusky blues and greys and I walk from the opposite side of the room, approaching the dim whitewashed rectangle that seems to hover four feet in the air, held by nothing.

My fingers disappear into the white ether, touching the textures on the parchment, caressing the rough and smooth undulations of paint. My eyes can make out little of the portrait’s secrets. I peer closer, my hand pressing onto the roughness of what resembles a gentle waterfall. I feel the rivulet rush over my fingers as my feet rise from the ground. My head ducks under a current that sweeps me downward, with the flow, until it crests above a pool of water. It is night.

Through my dim vision I make out the gaping mouth of a cave imbedded in the rocky cliff before me. A silhouette of a man stands at its entrance, his hand outstretched, motioning toward me.

We sit cross-legged before each other, the only light provided by the moon dancing on the pool near us, painting ghostly images on the cave walls. He whispers to me in little breaths. I close my eyes, inhaling deeply. My hands rest on my knees and my chest lightens.

“A pale vase,” he says. “In the case. In its place.”

“Vase in case in place…” I say. “Vase in case in place…”

I open my eyes and I am in the room again. A bright light paints the walls in hues of yellow and orange. The painting is not here.

I walk to a corner bookcase in which a light blue vase has rested for many years. Removing it, I hear the faintest clink inside. My fingers reach down deep into its recesses and grasp the thing.

A ring. Round and gold. Inscribed on its dusty exterior are his words to me. “My lively river. I love you.”

[Starbucks Anarchist]

5. I like it!

Very visual, and it suits the "dream" theme very well.

Are you working on any longer projects, or are you focusing on the writing class for now?

[Writer]

7. I'm focusing on the writing class and will likely crank out a new short...

for one of the short story submissions. I'm done with my PhD applications (in the waiting process now,) so I wouldn't mind writing something longer this summer.

I didn't think the exercise was very good because I was up against the deadline and rushed it.

Hey - I heard that you were away writing a long draft. Did you finish?

[Starbucks Anarchist]

9. Yeah, I finished the hand-written rough draft.

That took about 4.5-5 months, and I wrote ideas for revisions for a couple of weeks. Right now, I'm typing it all up while adding/deleting things.

I'm a slow typer, though, so it should be done by the time Hillary or Obama takes the White House. ;)

I also have the basic plot outlined for my next two novels, which I hope to finish by the time I'm 30, and I also thought of another idea the other day (partly inspired by DU, oddly enough) which could be a screenplay, novel or even a game show (!). However, I thought about it yesterday, and it may work as a group of short stories with a novelistic format, if that makes any sense.

[Writer]

11. Good for you for finishing your draft!

I am so slow in developing my writing that it will take me a lifetime to finish a novel draft.

So mega kudos to you!

Wow, man... you are very productive. Congrats and the best of luck to all of your writing endeavors!

[Starbucks Anarchist]

12. It's amazing what no life and pure desperation can make happen.

;)

To be fair, as far as novels go, this one is more on the short end -- bigger than a novella, but not exactly a phone book, either.

Oh, and thanks! You too! :toast:

[ThomCat]

6. Awesome! Mozel Tov.

I hope all your writing is better than you think it is. You're probably your own worst critic.
:hug:

[Writer]

8. Mr. Writer says I am very hard on myself.

Thanks, ThomCat.

How are you doing, btw?

[ThomCat]

10. I'm doing pretty well.

I'm reading a friend's manuscript for his next book. He's an historian. I'm reading about American and Canadian policies and prejudices leading up to the Japanese internments during WWII, and how the policies differed in each country, and why. It's really awesome because he's a wonderful writer. He doesn't seem to think so though.

What is it about writers? ;)

[Writer]

13. Yeah, it's probably because it's such an isolated craft.

The only people we're competing against are ourselves, so the only criticism we face is our own.

How cool to read a friend's draft. I envy you and Starbucks for your living in NYC. I miss it.

:hug:

~Writer~