Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Waning Moon
Saturn Retrograde
Snow storm approaching

I just love my new cover, so forgive me as I bask in it for awhile! It’s going to look really good on “stuff”. I might even do some tee shirts with the covers of HEX BREAKER and OLD-FASHIONED DETECTIVE WORK for special giveaways. Once I actually get my release date, I can start planning things like a virtual tour, real-life speaking engagements, etc.

I spent some time working on the Fearless Ink website yesterday. I’ve revamped the Workshop Page, and added three workshops: Write Anything Authentically; Story Building; and Journal, Blog, Diary: A Journey of Internal and External Communication. Check out my workshop page for more information. A press release will go out on these new workshops this week.

I also updated the Critique page with some additional information.

The job boards were mostly discouraging. I found one job that I know I’m completely qualified, if not overqualified to do that would be ongoing, and really, really fun, but it all depends on the pay. My agency doesn’t have anything right now, and another place that wants me to write for them pays so poorly I think it would be detrimental to work there. Read Lori’s post from yesterday, and you’ll see why.

and if that doesn’t convince you, check out Anne’s post.

It’s sometimes hard to remember this with unpaid bills looming. But it’s important, because it winds up hurting you in the long run – it’s not like any of these low-paid content gigs can be used to get higher paying jobs – and you burn out.

I’m hoping the new brochures, new mailings, and new proposals will generate the kinds of jobs at the level it makes sense for me to work.

I had a good writing day, worked on some correspondence, research, reading, etc. Didn’t finish the assignment for Confidential Job #1, so I’ll have to get back to that today. Went to a friend’s and cooked dinner, then had a quiet evening. I’m really not up for the usual Oscar party this weekend – I might just hang out with a friend and watch quietly at home with some tapas and wine, and skip the whole getting-dressed-up-and-formal-party thing.

Fashion Week is on in New York right now, for the fall collections. I like the more fitted, tailored pieces. Some of the coats are a little bulky and shapeless for my taste. I do like the colors that are prevalent – the deep, jewel tones. Pamela somebody had a really nice collection yesterday, and Michael Kors has his show today – I like a lot of Kors’s work because the lines are clean and flattering.

The point of couture is for these designers to make “wearable art” – not practicality. But the reality of surviving in the business at this point is making something that people can actually wear in daily life that’s beautiful and practical and keep it at a price point so people can actually wear it.

I love going to the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and looking at all the wearable art. The workmanship is fantastic on many of the pieces, with the detailed, hand embellishment. I think it’s important to have that joy and play and fun with clothing, Yet that’s what it is – an art form in cloth, not something that’s useful on a daily basis, and, in order to survive, most designers need to create collections that are useful to people and still retain the time, the energy, and the desire to create a few unique pieces that allow their imaginations to fly.

I’ve mentioned this before, and I’ll mention it again. One of the things that disappointed me around the holiday season, walking around the boutiques in Manhattan was that the clothing displayed in the windows was so unimaginative and unflattering, as well as being overpriced. Let’s hope the spring season is full of fun. What I’ve seen of the fall collection is a mixed bag, which I think is a good thing, because then there’s something for a wide range of tastes. What I remember of the spring collection that showed last fall was a lot of huge pastel florals, which I can do without.

Let’s just say I am not someone who should wear large cabbage roses in pastel shades, shall we? I look ridiculous, as though I’m peeking through a vegetable patch.

But this has got to be a frustrating time in which to be a designer. Even if you cross over to design for theatre and film, you’re still constrained by the needs of the character and the production. I wonder if perhaps it’s less a loss of vision and imagination than the lack of opportunity to explore the imagination.

The monologues are percolating. I hope I can get some solid work on paper in the next few days. It’s much easier to write an entire play that holds together than a monologue where you need to communicate an entire world succinctly in under two spoken minutes.

Not a lot of work done on the Billy Root story this morning. I think I have to go back and add a scene somewhere in order to make what I’m doing now make sense. I’m not yet sure where or how to add it, but what just came up in Chapter Seven needs to be set up a little better earlier in order to make sense.

Sigh.

I’m starting to see how I need to restructure certain parts of ASSUMPTION OF RIGHT so that it’s more logical, and I think I can do it without expanding the cast of characters too much. If I beef up the first two chapters, that should help a lot. And I can’t worry about word count until I’ve got the book the strongest it can be. Then I need to see if I need to tweak the count to fit the market, and then figure out how to do it. Step by step – it has to be polished before I can worry about submission.

I’ve got a bunch of business stuff to take care of; hope it doesn’t blow too big a hole into my writing day.

Devon

Billy Root story – 18,042 words out of est. 60,000

18 / 60 (30.0%)