on trying to write fiction

yesterday i decided to skip blogging because i successfully added over 1300 words (or about 5 pages double spaced 12p tmn) to the creative piece i am currently writing.  on the one hand that doesn't sound like a lot (one of my prouder moments in college was successfully cranking out a 15 page, 4500 word, A- paper on Cosmology in under 10 hours) but writing fiction goes a lot more slowly for me than academic writing.

on the whole i feel a lot more secure with this piece of fiction than i have with others before it.  i finally googled, "how to write a novel," only to determine that the path to doing it is both a lot harder and a lot easier than i had ever given it credit for being.  i definitely excel at writing characters, but, quite frankly, i always really sucked at developing a story arch.  i had it in my mind that if i fell in love with my characters hard enough, (which is a challenge since i really prefer to write about rather despicable, flawed people) they would eventually lead me to some grand adventure on their own.

but, at least at this point, i know where these characters are going and it's been a huge step forward for me.  and for just shy of 2200 words total there are already a lot of characters: andrea, grace, ruby, dylan, olivia, craig, steve, patrick, sam, "blondie."

i'm toying with the idea of signing off my future blog posts with the current word count of my, what-i-eventually-hope-makes-it-to-be-a-novel-someday.  to try and keep myself motivated and productive.

have any of you guys tried to write a piece of fiction over 50,000 words (who am i kidding, what about 20,000)?  how do you stay motivated / productive with the same creative piece?

word count:  2,154

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summer read: homeward bound

anyone who enjoys taza's rockstar diaries as much as i do has probably read emily matchar's article that appeared in salon about two years ago why i can't stop reading mormon housewife blogs.  (wait you haven't?  click the link and read it right away for gods sake, it is much more interesting than this blog.  i'll wait...)

ok so now you've read it right?

i've got to say the article really struck a cord with me, i loved reading it and found myself knodding along throughout.  but for a quick disclaimer i think matchar's perspective is a bit over simplified when she argues that "it's all a show!  nobody's that perfect!  their lives definitely suck somewhere deep down!" 

because of course nobody's that perfect.  of course the mormon mommy bloggers have terrible days that go undocumented by photoshopped j.crew catalogue-esque blog posts.  duh.  they're young.  they, like many of us, grew up with the internet and a very strong pressure to present the best version of yourself online.  there are two sides to every coin.  the famous bloggers have bad days and non famous bloggers have gorgeous beautiful days too.  just because someone attractively documents the good stuff in their life, that doesn't make it disingenuous, nor does it make it the whole picture of who they are.  ok... i'm off my soapbox now.

that said, i am totally excited about the release of matchar's new book homeward bound: why women are embracing the new domesticity.  so far, from reading the synopses and book reviews, some of matchar's examples of trendy behaviors among young women today totally resonate with me.  not all, but some.    the blogging community really appears to be a remarkable sect of women who are embracing new domesticity in the way matchar describes and i am absolutely fascinated to see what she has to say about this from a larger cultural perspective.

i haven't read the book yet, so don't consider this post an endorsement, but if anyone is looking to check out this interesting sounding read i'd love to see what others think as i read along!