Post-Mortem
31 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in 750words, Writing Tags: autopsy, challenge, postmortem, writing
Throwing up a post here on my way to school, since there’s probably no other time I’m really going to do it. Plus, the sun is shining too much for me to play my game of Final Fantasy Tactics. Can’t see the damn screen.
So, the story-a-day jaunt came crashing to the earth right at the finish line. Even counting the last day of April, I couldn’t make it. Couldn’t even make the one month goal. I was depressed about that for a couple of days.
Regardless, we have to do an autopsy.
Paging Dr. Jbot
Other than not making the goal, it was a complete success since I went from not-writing to writing. That was the most important thing. Plagued by writer’s block, I just went with the brute force method. They say when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail, and that may be true, but you can still solve a lot of problems with it.
One of the choices I made was to also forego editing and threw whatever I had up on the Jetsam. I put out some less-than-stellar stories (I believe the technical term is shit) that I will probably never return to. I’m happy I did that though. Writing is like anything. You’re going to try and fail a lot before you ever get anywhere. We sometimes treat writers with these mystical qualities, like great stories just spring out of our heads like a fully-formed Pallas Athena. Not do, though most writers work a story until it’s presentable. I figured I’d just open the doors to this sausage-making factory called the creative process. It’s not a pretty sight.
Plus I would’ve just worked on one story the entire month if I hadn’t abandoned my babies like a trailer boy.
The best side effect of it was the return to Temple Falls. A couple of years ago, my best childhood buddy told me about this comic idea he had about these characters he created named Annah and Yogi. I wanted to write another comic, so I offered to script it for him. Along the way, I created Callie and Connor and other characters, and with Logan we created a dynamic, living world that I recently renamed Temple Falls. Because I needed ideas for this last month, I revived this project, which had fallen by the wayside. I think it’s clear to see by the length and love I put into them that the Temple Falls stories are my favorites.
There will be more of those in the future.
Those were the biggest effects of the challenge. Some smaller ones that are worth mentioning:
My blog got clicked on a lot by people from Trinidad and Tobago. So a shout out to my Trinbago readers; thanks for reading!
It was also a good exercise for me mentally. Idle hands, man, idle hands. I go crazy if I’m not being productive. Now though, I need a break because I’m exhausted. Not having the weekend to recharge took it out of me.
So, will I ever do it again? Probably. It was a lot of fun and I write more this way. Maybe next time I will pick a shorter month or wait until I’m done teaching here. But for now I’m taking a break because I have open classes and I’ve been neglecting my hobbies.
Which isn’t to say I’m going dark. I was so serious during this that I’ve been wanting to write something silly or light-hearted. If I can get it down, I might be able to put it up.
Lord knows I forgot how to enjoy life with this dark, diseased mind of mine.
#28. Otokichi
27 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in 750words Tags: castaway, death, fiction, otokichi, short story, writing
Iwakichi rasped as he spoke. “Oto-san, I’m afraid that if we don’t see land in the next few days, well,” he began to trail off, before resuming his conversation, “we’re at the end of our supplies.” He paused for another moment, straining to find the words. He finally looked back at Otokichi, looking at him in the eye. “I want to believe there is land out there. I have to believe. It’s not something I may get to see though. Oto-san, I will drown myself in a couple of days if we don’t see anything. It will give you and Kyu-san a better chance.”
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#27. Namhae
27 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in 750words, Korea Tags: beach, carnival games, Korea, love, marriage, namhae, relationships, south africa, sunset, Travel, vacation
Photo by Alex. Reproduced under the Creative Commons License.
You cunt,” K said, closing the phone shut, and tossing it into the sand. J set his beer down and reached over to grab his phone, dusting it off and putting it in his pocket. He glanced over at K and adjusted the blanket he was sitting on.
“What was that about?” J asked him.
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Get Back To Where You Once Belonged
25 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in 750words, Adulthood, Catfish B, Navel Gazing, Writing Tags: 750words, enjoying things again, existentialism, jbot, ream of paper, writing, youth
What the hell? Vintage Jbot? In my WordPress?
I’ve been front-loaded and jacked up with enough caffeine and some such similar substances that I really want to write. I need to write. About things. About things that really happen and not the things that I make up. I’ve really done nothing but projects on this blog as of late. The failed John Carpenter project. The slightly more successful Write a Story every day project.
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#26. Duck
25 May 2012 1 Comment
in 750words Tags: artist, fiction, friends, friendship, lesbian, lgbt, love, relationships, short story, temple falls, writing
Photo by Kenny Lex. Reproduced under the Creative Commons License.
Callista Millard laid on her couch, smoking her fourth cigarette of the day. Both of her legs were crossed over one another and dangling off the armrest as she rested her head against the opposite one. She blew her smoke into the air of her darkened and shaded apartment, letting her hand drop to tap the ashes into her tray on the floor. All around the couch were papers on the floor. Callista dropped her cigarette and picked up a random sheet and looked at it.
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#25. Little Bird, Little Bird Fly Through My Window
24 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in 750words Tags: birds, black billed magpie, fiction, friendship, magpie, quaking aspen, running away, short story, temple falls, Travel, writing
Photo by paddynapper. Reproduced under the Creative Commons License.
Based on a world and characters created by a very good friend.
Through the window of the bus depot, Anna could see a black-billed magpie perched on the branch of a tree. It strut around on the dangling branch of the quaking aspen, making calls of ‘yak yak yak‘ for a woman to come by his side. In the glow of the sunlight on his black-and-white feathers, his tail and wings appeared to shine with a sheen of a majestic purple. One of his wings seemed to have been mangled, some time a long time ago. Anna watched the bird until it caught her eye, stared back at her, then flew away. She looked over to the ticket counter, and saw the couple that was standing there were finally done.
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#24. Temple Falls
23 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in 750words Tags: crime, criminals, death, drugs, fiction, meth, murder, river, rural, short story, temple falls, tweakers, writing
Photo by Angus Stewart. Reproduced under the Creative Commons License.
Temple Falls was always a good town, near as I could always tell. The thing you got to know about any good American town is it’s only as good as we allow it to be. Folks like us are the salt, and we’ll burn it all down if we want, if we think we’d catch you in the fire. I try to keep it good though; I’m rather fond of living here.
I like to have a good mountain at my backside and a river flowing through for the fishing season; no better treat than whiskey and grilled sockeye salmon during the summer swelt. Hunting’s served up some good eats too. Temple Falls been good to us, so we try to do right and good by it as much as we can.
