Weekend update…

Sarcasm and Guts

This weekend was the most frustrating one for me in a long while.

Let me refresh your memory…

When our hero last left you, he was dealing with the staple sites becoming infected.

“Oh yes, Sean, I have you now.  I will make you itch and miserable. BRING ON THE PUS AND BLOOD!”

“Now wait a min, I’ve been miserable, 5 years worth, and I don’t think you can do this ole Satan!” I laughed at him.

Now in hindsight, laughing at Satan and trying to go a weekend with infected staple sites wasn’t the best idea.

Joanna and I tried putting Neosporin and covering the sites Friday and Saturday.  Now I thought that the misery and tragedy that I had been since the surgery was miserable.  I was wrong.  Now I had been wearing a large dark shirt double X sized that until I looked at it thought didn’t have any blood or pus on it.

I was wrong.

I was slightly pissed off because the doctor had told me that if I had any seeping from the wounds to call him or go to the emergency room.

Well, there was nothing I could do but wait till Monday afternoon at 3 or go into the emergency room.

I didn’t have the money to go and wait for them to tell me that they could pull the staples and after consultation with an EMT and a nurse, I decided to wait until Monday.

Well I do have a set of three sites that just want to excreter pus and blood.  So tomorrow I am looking forward to the doc telling me that he is going to pull the staples.  Then I am going to rip into his staff for the whole she bang about not having adequate post operation information and misdating my prescription for my pain meds till three days after the surgery.

So I’ve had a blood and pus weekend.

The writing process Sean style…

I’ve had a great weekend throwing out 2500 words onto the computer and self editing it down to 1700 for the prologue.  Some people write the damn thing and then edit but I feel more comfortable editing while I write.  I give myself the ability to write on and on but then don’t worry about the loose ends until after I’m finished.  Then I write notes to myself of what I have laid down in the chapter and the progression that I want to take.

After the process is over I look over my notes to see if I have left out any of the themes, characters or red herrings that I want to leave in the pages.  I insert those in what is my second edit.  Then I leave it alone, not touching the writing until 30 days after I have finished the final chapter.  Thus I can look at anew and see if as I read and edit for the third time anything pops up at me that is faulty.

Finally, I let someone I trust read a portion of it.  Now in the past I’ve let Pauly, Al, and Mrs. Riggstad read the second edited material.  With this new portion I’m soliciting a new set of three to read along as I write.  I know Pauly doesn’t have the time and I really didn’t give him the material in a time when he could read it, but I will send him along a copy of the final so he can rip it up.

Why get into the writing process?

I really enjoy constructive criticism but can not stand critics who give me “I don’t like it, I don’t know why.”

When I let some people read the book that were friends of my good friend Kerri, they ate it up , but came back with, “I liked it.”

What I am looking for is someone to mentor the writing process that can encourage, and yet criticize.

Why you might ask?

Because I’ve come to the conclusion that the only way for me to make my dreams possible is to to polish up The Castle while writing Sands of Life and then send them to as many publishers as possible.  I can handle the denial.  I used to not enjoy denial. It was painful and miserable.

But its a part of life.  It’s a part of growing.  And I have been stagnant the last year.  I had something that I loved and I held it where no one could see it.  I held it too close, and I am smothering it.

For me to be truly happy, I have to say that I took a shot.

I’m a lucky man and there are good things to be taken out of this weekend. I started writing again, and I found passion inside me, as well as, pus and blood.