Sunday.

Today, I've been reading and writing end notes. I read two great stories. Like really good. Like I don't even know what to talk about other than say, "This is really sharp." It's funny. That's a good thing. Instead of looking for critiques, I get to talk about why I liked these. One of the other stories is pretty messy, and not that it's bad, but the characters names and the narrator's sentences are getting in the way of telling a good story. You know when you read a story and it's got all the components to be fantastic, but it's executed horribly. It's not even that the writing is bad, but that the writer is getting in the way of the story, so that the real story isn't even told.

I've also been working on my poetry packet. They're all separate poems, outside of a project, though I kept a poem or two from my next project, though they're veiled as individual. I wrote a poem about the Royal, about Las Cruces, and about old friends. I like them alright.

So, the Story Thief draft #2 is done. Thanks to Ian's notes, I added a shitload of stuff. I mean, my characters got a lot of relevant back story, I propelled the narrative forward, so that there is a new book already forming in my head (and I've got notes). One part of the novel was 30 pages or so when I finished the first draft. Now, it's over 100 pages. Bam. I'm excited for my writing buddies to read it. I'm really concerned about the ending. It used to have a few gunshots and a peeling out Cadillac, but no it's got that and a horse. My next focus will be dialogue and looking in close at scenes. I striped the dialogue a bit, so that there's less "Waiting for Godot" exchanges, and realized that cutting straight to the end of the conversation does the same (only faster) as the back and forth without losing focus. I do need to work on making the voices distinct. I think I did a lot already, but it might need some more work. We'll see. I also use the F word too much. Too many Fucks. I've already cut out sooooooo many, but I think it becomes something I just write, because a fuck adds a beat to dialogue that can provide a rhythm, you can show anger or frustrations or humor. However, I think that I can do that kind of writing without deploying fucks every time they can fit.

I'm waiting for more of The Wire. Netflix, Come on!

OK.

That's all for now.

Later Gs,

Joshua