Via PT:
You Passed 8th Grade Math
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Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!
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PT also mentioned that he recently took the GMAT. In continuation of that full disclosure, I recently took the GRE which purports to be 8th grade-level as well. I didn’t get a 10 out of 10 there, though.
Things took a drastic turn last night reading The Dark Tower and my attitude towards it has changed somewhat. Spoilers abound here, but if you’re read it let’s just say I’m just over half way through and one thing happened that I foresaw (and wasn’t moved but expected to be) and another happened that I didn’t foresee (and I was moved and didn’t expect to be.)
The great realization for me is that this story was written by Stephen King for Stephen King. In fact, at times in the past few days I’ve felt downright voyeuristic reading it. I still don’t think the story follows the original trajectory of The Gunslinger but I realize now it’s closer than I originally imagined. The end of that book is all about worlds within worlds and the nature of reality. As a writer, King has been to hundreds of different worlds but, in his imagination, the Gunslinger has been in the back of his mind and has therefore taken the trip with him. The last several books in the series incorporate our “real” world with Roland’s world and the dozens of other worlds King has created. The thing tying them all together is not God or nature or fate, but Stephen King.
I’ve also come to realize that I’m very sensitive to Oy, the billy-bumbler that’s the boy Jake’s constant companion and is, for all intents and purposes, a semi-talking dog. Our puppy Athena is extremely bright and has a shining personality—-her problem-solving skills often surprise us and she radiates emotions: love, anger, fear, confusion, sadness. She also “talks” a lot, and I’ve since learned that German Shepherds are known to be “chatty” breeds. Point being, we can almost have conversations and very rarely do we not understand each other.
Oy makes his first appearance in The Waste Lands(Book III of the series) and I thought his inclusion was tantamount to adding a precocious kid to a sit-com to get a few more cheap laughs, and maybe it was. Oy plays a more important role in Books V, VI, and VII and the bond developed between the boy and the animal is 100% accurate and emotionally resonant; in fact, one of the most moving parts of the whole series was an interaction between Oy and Jake I read last night. (This, of course, comes from a guy who thinks animals have been some of the nicest people he’s ever met.)
I’m well on my way to set a record for most submissions in a calendar year, partially because previous years have been sparse:
2003 - 16 submissions
2004 - 12 submissions
2005 - 26 submissions
2006 - 11 submissions (as of today)
I used to be more hung-up on the numbers side of things. Some big names have said they got 200 rejections before their first sale, or that they sold four of their first ten stories to big markets, etc. None of this matters because they aren’t me. The only thing I can do is write the stories that come to me as best I can and send them out. The only stat that counts is sales, with big sales counting four-fold in my book.
I’m doing a Ctrl-F on the word “just” in my stories from now on as I tend to use it as a crutch. Things happen “just before dawn” or “just enough power” or people are “just going to work.” The word “just” does nothing except get in the way in these instances, so I axe it.
I’m also getting back to writing stories—-you know, with beginnings, middles, ends that feature actual characters doing things. I wrote those kind of stories when I first started out and then got a little gun-shy after Clarion, working instead on vignette-type pieces to experiment with different techniques, voices, etc. I happen to think that several of them are quite good, yet I understand why they haven’t sold. A number of recent rejections have said, “Good writing here but not enough story,” or something similar.
I’m enjoying the process a little more now. I no longer feel the pressure to write something mind-blowing or tear-jerking. I can’t say I entirely enjoyed the rewriting process I went through yesterday (long and rather boring) but it’s an improvement process. This whole game revolves around confidence—-as a writer, you need to know exactly where you’re taking the reader and how you’re going to get there. Hesitancy jumps out at me now when I’m reading a draft, as with the “just” comments above. Everything needs to happen for a reason; reinforce sparingly; don’t say it twice when you can say it once in the right place. That kind of stuff.
It’s also cool to read posts from guys like Charles Coleman Finlay (who rocks by the way) when he admits that he has trouble with endings.
No word on graduate schools yet which is neither here nor there. All I know is that I want to spend more time with words.
Current Mood - Pretty Good | 
Currently Listening To - Bruce Springsteen - “Nebraska”
and for writing you’ll see 
