What is This Idea Anyway?

Is it a short story or is it a novel?

I was doing a little ‘pretend’ jog around the neighbourhood on my day off and I was struck by this idea (of a man having a heart attack while jogging–as you may have guessed, I am not that great of a jogger). I saw the opening of my story. It rolled out in front of me like a red carpet. Voice. Character. Every detail of the opening was visible to me. It was as though I was standing above this guy while he fought off the light. A novel lay stretched out before me.

Or was it a screenplay? I think it was a screenplay. With a middle-aged man like Kurt Russell from 15 years ago as the lead. Or that guy from The Big Labowski. He’s looking back on his life and his errors. Reliving it, really. Realizing he’s been a jerk. But the story is fresh. It doesn’t feel like it’s been done a dozen and a half times before–which it has.

I wrote out the beginning yesterday. It’s about 250 words. Maybe 500.

Last night as I tried to fall asleep, I thought about it some more.

I think it might be a poem.

Writing a First Draft in Two Weeks: Part 3

How am I doing in my online class and its imposed challenge of writing a first draft in two weeks? (280 double-spaced pages.) Well, it’s going.

Sorta.

Speaking of Crazy Goals…

I’ve done an awful lot in the past two weeks, except make the 280 page mark. I am pleased to announce that I am over the 200 page threshold, but with the midnight Sunday deadline approaching faster than Easter, let’s just say, hitting 280 ain’t gonna happen. I mean, sure, I’m open to miracles. But the fact of the matter is, I’m not going to drop absolutely everything in order to accomplish this goal. In fact, writing 77 pages in the next 30.5 hours would pretty much ensure I would break a whole lot of other goals. Such as my goal of being a reasonable person, my goal of keeping my family happy and fed–heck, even hanging out with my family, my goal of getting through laundry before the work week commences once again, my goal of being a non-negligent mother, etc, etc. Plus, I’m pretty sure the cat I’m sitting would get a bit pissy if I just ran into the house, flung food at her, and hurried off again. (Same goes for my family, actually.)

There is something to be said for making unreasonable attempts, such as writing 280 pages in two weeks while trying to retain a semblance of real life (and not get fired or divorced or visited by family services). There is also something to be said for making goals and doing your best to get close to them. For example, if I hadn’t tried to reach this goal, I would still only have notes as to where I wanted to go with this story idea.

So what have I learned? I can squeeze in a little writing time every day if I make it a priority. And heck, it’s still a pile of fun! (Plus, if I write up to 9:13 in the morning, I can eek into work just in the nick of time. Whew!)

The next crazy goal? To revise this puppy in two weeks–that’s the second half of the class. I wonder if it matters that it is only 207 pages long and incomplete. Hmm…