It's about time
Sep. 20th, 2004 08:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ksmith...that I posted an actual entry.
These next six weeks will be busy. In addition to sporadic work on Endgame and guitar lessons and fall yardwork, I enrolled in an online tech writing course offered by UIC--Univ of Illinois at Chicago. I will have assignments due twice a week, weekly quizzes, and will need to devote 8-10 hours a week to the class overall. By the end, I hope to know more about the types and styles of technical writing that are popular today, and whether there are any moneymaking opportunities to be had doing it. Planning for the secnd career...or is that the third career?
Had my second guitar lesson today--started reading music and playing notes again. Much to work on for next week. On Saturday, I hacked down a monster burning bush that was in the process of consuming my house. It looks pretty barren now, but in a year or two it should bounce back. I may use the before and after shots as avatars as soon as I take some after shots.
Used a chainsaw for the first time. Heh.
In other news, I've been trying to befriend a stray dog that has been hanging around the neighborhood. Unfortunately, it's been a case of one step forward, two steps back. Yesterday, we fed him dry dog food and liver, and he spent some time sleeping in our front yard. He's emaciated, and I felt sure that the lure of decent food would be enough to get him to hang around--I would like to get him to a shelter if possible. Unfortunately, it didn't work out as I hoped--he saw me today, and just kept going, cutting through the neighbor's yard and disappearing.
As mentioned before, work on Endgame continues sporadic--for the last two nights, what words I added were cancelled out by the words I cut, meaning no net wordage to report. I probably should get to it now, so off to brew a cuppa peppermint tea I go...
These next six weeks will be busy. In addition to sporadic work on Endgame and guitar lessons and fall yardwork, I enrolled in an online tech writing course offered by UIC--Univ of Illinois at Chicago. I will have assignments due twice a week, weekly quizzes, and will need to devote 8-10 hours a week to the class overall. By the end, I hope to know more about the types and styles of technical writing that are popular today, and whether there are any moneymaking opportunities to be had doing it. Planning for the secnd career...or is that the third career?
Had my second guitar lesson today--started reading music and playing notes again. Much to work on for next week. On Saturday, I hacked down a monster burning bush that was in the process of consuming my house. It looks pretty barren now, but in a year or two it should bounce back. I may use the before and after shots as avatars as soon as I take some after shots.
Used a chainsaw for the first time. Heh.
In other news, I've been trying to befriend a stray dog that has been hanging around the neighborhood. Unfortunately, it's been a case of one step forward, two steps back. Yesterday, we fed him dry dog food and liver, and he spent some time sleeping in our front yard. He's emaciated, and I felt sure that the lure of decent food would be enough to get him to hang around--I would like to get him to a shelter if possible. Unfortunately, it didn't work out as I hoped--he saw me today, and just kept going, cutting through the neighbor's yard and disappearing.
As mentioned before, work on Endgame continues sporadic--for the last two nights, what words I added were cancelled out by the words I cut, meaning no net wordage to report. I probably should get to it now, so off to brew a cuppa peppermint tea I go...
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no subject
Date: 2004-09-20 08:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-21 04:19 am (UTC)Quality is what counts, not length. Good luck with the writing course, the guitar lessons, the writing, and everything else! Living a busy life are we? =P
no subject
Date: 2004-09-21 09:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-21 09:12 am (UTC)Yeah, well...it seemed like a good idea at the time...
Managed about 200 words on Endgame last night. The problem with knowing one's characters fairly well is that you have a hard time just letting any old words drop from their mouths. Even though this is First Draft(tm) and the object is simply to get stuff down on paper that one can revise, one has trouble simply bulling on ahead. At least this one does.
Conversations between Jani Kilian and Dieter Brondt can be so loaded. Then there's John Shroud, standing off to one side providing pithy commentary. John is scared and worried, Dieter is becoming progressively more alarmed, and Jani has Made Up Her Mind(tm). Jani also knows both these males fairly well, so can pretty much tell what they're thinking, which needs to be communicated to the reader. John is more likely than Dieter to say exactly what is on his mind, so there is contained emotion in that corner as well.
IOW, it doesn't just flow...
ARGGHH!
Date: 2004-09-21 02:44 pm (UTC)Let me know what you think of the tech writing--and if you get a student copy of Robohelp. I need to update my skills, and there is NO rhyme and reason to postings of what they want.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-21 04:17 pm (UTC)I recognize at least several on your FL who could execute such a commission besides myself.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-21 06:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-21 06:51 pm (UTC)Nobody ever carried me up and down hallways on a palanquin...
Re: ARGGHH!
Date: 2004-09-21 06:59 pm (UTC)No, I can't see writing the same series forever. Especially when the characters are telling you that it's time to take a break.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-21 08:35 pm (UTC)Re: ARGGHH!
Date: 2004-09-21 11:41 pm (UTC)As long as you are enjoy writing about Jani I'm sure the books will be great. But it would be unreasonable to ask of a writer to continue to write about characters that no longer entertains him/her. Even if possible I doubt it would be any good if the authors soul isn't in the writing. We can only hope you'll keep entertained for a long while yet. Taking breaks and writing other things inbetween is probably a good idéa.
Re: ARGGHH!
Date: 2004-09-22 07:41 am (UTC)An editing program that helps structure on-line HELP systems, apparently. I'd also like to learn FrameMaker, but it's something like $1000, massive overkill for writing, and a little complicated to learn--although since I've a lot of Dreamweaver stuff, it's not a foreign language for me.
Have yet to find classes in either program. Maybe I should teach myself and offer to teach it at the local junior college.