Hmm...

I hate putting titles on these things.

I got an email this morning with a jab to get back at this. I have several excuses I could use here, but I think I'll just leave anyone/everyone wondering and get into other things.

I'm thinking that the new title of the overall blog should be Adam Not Writing. Here's my explanation (warning, this may sound overly dramatic, but this is humorous, just bear with me): My current problem with writing partially stems from lack of devoted time, but also from some kind of ailment in my fingers.

Lack of devoted time means that every time I'm sitting down to do anything I get interrupted repeatedly. There have been times that I've had 30 minutes or so to myself, but I can't count on it... I can already hear some of you out there: "Get used to it!" "Welcome to my world." "You think that's bad?" And all I have to say is: can it, this isn't a pissing contest. I have and probably will again write with distractions and deal with the juggling act that is life for everyone. Kids, animals, parents, friends, work, school, or whatever have and always will occupy time in our lives. Everyone has distractions, mine have just gotten the better of me for the last two months or so. I'm not asking for sympathy, merely citing this as a contributing reason for my inactivity.

Secondly, my creativity has seemed to stop at my fingers. My mind is still going, taking in ordinary things from the world around me and twisting them into the demented, sick and (hopefully a little) scary things that I put on the page. This has created a kind of blockage in my brain. Every time I have attempted to sit down and write, my fingers simply will not assist in the defacing of paper.

The blockage has created a weird situation. I know that I'm sleep deprived and distracted in others ways as well. However, I think I'm learning just how poisonous a story can be if it isn't allowed to spill onto the page. I think I'm learning just how much I don't want to write, I have to write. I think I'm beginning to understand why the people who can't write anything but appallingly unskilled poetry and stories filled with adverbs and wooden characters and cliches continue to write.

So this poison has built up, and I'm starting to wonder what kind of an overall effect it's having on my senses... Hopefully I'll get some of it out soon.

Update. Quitting?

Well the past week has been rather difficult to say the least. I don't really intend to go on for very long, but I didn't want there to be a huge gap in posts, so I thought I'd throw a short update on here.

I also thought that anyone wanting to follow my NaNoWriMo experience that it may be over. I'm so far behind that only a heroic effort would get me back in the game. I guess we'll see, but I have plenty of other stories that need work, so writing will continue, regardless.

Halloween

Well, my favorite holiday has come and is almost a memory for one more year.

Maybe it's just like this in the younger crowd that would be out drinking anyway, but at some point, Halloween stopped being such a harvest festival and started being more like a drink in costumes event. I'm not complaining, mind you, I just find it interesting.

Also, at midnight tonight NaNoWriMo will begin. (If you're confused, reference my previous post.)

On the subject of writing... what's that? Writing is the subject of my blog? Oh, yeah. Anyway, on the subject of writing, I wanted to compete in a Halloween short story writing competition this year. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of anything that had to do with Halloween and wasn't an overdone cliche until it was pretty late in October, so most of the contests were done or were at least done taking entries. Oh, well. I'll revise it and maybe find one I'd like to enter next year.

It was interesting (to me, anyway) that the story turned out to be one of the tamest stories I've written in recent memory. I have to wonder if that points to a deeper meaning with me. Something like: When it comes to Halloween, I'll always be a kid. Or something like that.

Well, I didn't get to go out with my friends this year, again. Trick or Treating was kind of a miserable failure at my house, too. I wonder if maybe I shouldn't just find some way to celebrate this ancient festival on my own since I've spent quite a few that way in recent years.

That was a pretty rambling and meandering thought train... (with a fair bit of what sounds like complaining. Didn't really mean it that way.) I guess I'll call it quits now.

Happy Halloween!