The Great American Attempt

I started writing an ultra-ambitious project last night. It's supposed to turn into a novel, but I face several obstacles. (This would not be Fail 1 either.) The first is just shiny things. I lose my focus to Rock Band 2 or my DVR. The second is organization and purpose.

I said awhile ago in another entry that you needed to know the ending of your story before you started. I feel like I know the landmarks along the way, but the ending is a little fuzzy. That worries me.

A lot of people say you just have to sit down and make yourself write. What I'm doing now is writing down the landmarks. It feels like barfing on the page. After that or along the way somewhere, I hope it'll become clear how to organize them and tie them all together. And of course, I hope I'll see an obvious ending.

I do this when I'm writing ads sometimes too. I take everything that needs to be in the ad, write it down and then organize it into a coherent piece. Sometimes I can piece it together with copy and paste and a few words here and there. Sometimes I have to write from scratch and just use my notes as guidance. Depends on the style of writing.

I really felt like I went into the writing zone last night, an emotion I haven't felt towards a non-advertising piece in awhile. It was nice.

On an unrelated note, I also started training my cat to walk on a leash. Apparently, I have several ultra-ambitious goals.