As a way of keeping myself accountable and actually get things done, I thought I might try out a little newsletter of what I’ve been working on for the past month.
I got out for some pictures around Independence Day. A nearby park hosts a Colonial Heritage Festival—the biggest one west of the Mississippi, they say—and we went for the first time this year. Lots of people were dressed up, not only those officially involved in the booths or reenactment. It was cool to see. The kids tried their hand at spinning yarn from raw wool and candle making. I think we’ll make it a tradition. I might even have to make myself a mountain man outfit.
That night after the kids were in bed I went down to Provo to check out the street carnival and all the people camped out along University Avenue for the big parade the next morning. I brought along an Olympus Mju loaded with Ilford HP5 (hacked to be metered at 1600 ISO). I was hoping to recapture some of the magic from the Orem carnival a few weeks prior, but it didn’t quite happen. The carnival was only so so, but I did get some good photos including one of my favorites so far this year. I shot these on my Nikon F100 loaded with Cinestill 800t which I also metered at 1600 (I think). See below.
On July 4th I got the great news that I had won first place in a poetry contest by the Formal Poetry Directorate for my poem Forty Mile Desert. The theme was 250 Years of America. I still can’t believe that I won and am very grateful to the organizers of the contest. If you like my poetry, please support what they are doing. It feels strange to know that people appreciate my writing in its various forms. I wonder if that ever goes away.
Mid-month, and for the fourth year in a row, I attended the Writers Cantina (a Utah writing conference for science fiction, fantasy, and horror). I feel like I have struck a good balance between attending presentations/panels and just hanging out in the lobby for conversation with aspiring and professional writers alike. I found that this year’s conference has lit a fire under me. I have yet to finish a novel-length project—so far only able to complete short stories and poems—and I decided that it would be a waste of time to go back for a fifth year without any to show for it. So, I’ve set some ambitious goals. So far (two weeks in) it’s working.
I have identified three books that I started writing—years ago, really—that I dropped out of boredom or frustration, and I am going finish first drafts for them. A couple presentations at the Writers Cantina really drilled into my head that I may be able to start a book without an outline, but I can’t finish one without an outline. So, that is the first part the plan: make a detailed outline. The second part is to write 1000 words every weekday. I’m two weeks into this goal, and it seems to be getting easier to hit every day. It’s really not that much time; only 60-90 minutes for me so far. But if I can keep it up, that’s 250,000 words in a year with time off for weekends and holidays. Suddenly it seems that I can get a lot done within a year.
The current work in progress is an Atomic Western: think Louis L’Amour meets Fallout. I’m aiming to keep it a fast-paced 50-60k words. I have 14k down so far and a good outline. Hopefully, I will be able to report next month that I am nearing the finish line.
Otherwise, I was able to get out for pictures a few times, in spite of the heat that saps my will to do anything at all. I went to Magna’s historic Main Street one morning on the way to the Writers Cantina and out at night a couple times in Springville and Provo.
I wrote one poem this month and posted it here. It’s about a little bird that I found dying on the patio when I was taking my dog outside. I buried it in the strawberry bed. I hope that was a good location. The whole event made me profoundly sad.
August will be busy as the kids go back to school and so do I: teaching a course on technical writing at the local university. But I often find that productivity rises right along with busy. I’m looking forward to it.
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