The Week in Words - 1/13/25 - 1/19/25

"I'll let you be in my dream if you let me be in yours." -Bob Dylan

Output - Data

Stats Compendium

Total: 1,677 words (5 pages + 25 words[1,045] + 632 typed)

Days Writing: 3/7 days (.429 WrPCT)

AWD: 559/day

Longest Day: 1/19/25 - 1,020 words (5 pages)

The Still Bleepin’ Counts Award: 1/18/25 - 25 words journaled

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Output - Synthesis

Last Week’s Update

I don’t have much to say this week, because I didn’t get much writing done. The reasons were myriad, but ultimately it led to a bit of a work stoppage.

With what little bit of time I had, I looked back on the genesis of the idea—and how much it’s changed since then. What was originally supposed to be a simple novella blossomed into what it is today. It was interesting to see the ways in which the idea matured and changed as I discovered new details and finally shed the last of my screenwriting habits.

I’m happy with where I’m at, I just always wish it could happen faster. At the same time, I’m not gonna hold myself to any sort of a deadline. It’s weeks like this that prove out that any deadline would immediately get pushed away in favor of life’s incumbent worries and concerns.

The best part is that there’s always tomorrow, there’s always the next window of time to write, there’s always an opportunity to get the work done.

Input - Data

Book: Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner

Starting Page: 117

Ending Page: 160

Days Read: 2

Pages Read: 43

2/7 days (.286 rPCT)

APD: 21.5 pages

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Input - Synthesis

I didn’t get to read much either, but I did come across this wonderfully awkward description of vaping from Creation Lake:

“The man in the Mao cap removed from his safari vest what looked to be vaping equipment and squinted into the sun. The woman produced from a fanny pouch her own version of vaping equipment, and the two of them began to suck on these elaborate contraptions, large handheld objects with curves that reminded me of figureheads on ship prows.” - Pg. 144

Some things she does well, some things could use some finessing. The book so far really feels like it’s written by a tourist—which, in a way, it is since the 1st person narrator is only visiting the Guyennethe region—and some times I feel like I’m reading a guide book when Kushner’s clearly reaching for me to <see> something in all these details. It feels more forced than lived-in, more telegraphing than foreshadowing, which is something I’m probably guilty of too.

But the more I read of this book, the more it really grinds on me. But I won’t be able to fully synthesize why it’s grinding so much until I’ve read through the whole thing. In reading something I don’t vibe with, I can learn just as much if not more—and, plus, I just really need the exposure to modern writing. So… Onward!

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⥁⥀⥁ Fiction

⥁⥀⥁ Appendices

⥁⥀⥁ Non-Fiction