Sheldon Lee Compton's Blog, page 5
July 4, 2016
27 Update – Fuzzy and strange, airplane metaphors
DAY 31 (July 4, 2016) – Still struggling. I have a lot of moving parts with this book and a long long long way to go. The parts are starting to get all fuzzy and strange. I already feel like I’m trying to land a Cessna without an engine when eventually I’m going to be trying to land a Boeing with no wings. Somehow I have to let go of this anxiety and just write. That’s when things will cut loose again. I’m sure of it. Total word count: 510.
Source: 27

27 – Writing has been a struggle lately
DAY 30 (July 3, 2016) – Man it’s been a struggle the last several days. I haven’t wanted to write, haven’t had the urge whatsoever. I can’t tell if the few pages I’ve managed are good or bad, no matter the first draft status. I don’t know if the words are good enough for even a first draft. No idea. I’m just going to keep going, though. I hear of some writers who send their pages back and forth and get feedback while working through a book. I could probably do this, as I have enough writer friends who would likely be up for such a setup, but I doubt they could make much sense of the couple hundred pages I’ve managed so far. It’s all over the place. As it stands, I’ll keep trying to stay afloat and hope to catch up on total word counts, because I think I may finally be behind again. I’m not even going to count and find out for sure. Just going to assume I am and move on. Word count: 439. Maybe I’ll have an evening update. Who knows?
Source: 27

June 28, 2016
27 – Most Productive Writing Day Yet
DAY 25 (June 28, 2016) – Some days it just happens. A lot of what I wrote today may end up hitting the cutting floor in edits. But I think it could work with some fine tuning. Total word count: 4,092. Total page count: 176.
Source: 27

June 27, 2016
27 Progress Update for June 27, 2016
DAY 24 (June 27, 2016) – I’m writing this section about a character I’ve come to call The Observer. It’s sort of a turning inside out of scenes from much earlier in the book that happened to another character. Except this time around, I’m showing from The Observer’s perspective. One of the challenges here is keeping the information fresh even though the surface events are repeating. It’s a fun challenge though and got me through to my count goal for today. Total word count: 759. Total page count: 165.
Source: 27

June 25, 2016
27 – Progress update for June 25, 2016
DAY 22 (June 25, 2016) – Finished working on the car today. Finishing touches on the transmission, mounted the motor, etc. and then test drove. Everything checked out. Major car repair victory. Got home streaked with oil, dirt, and sweat. Tired and totally drained. Stood in the shower for a long couple of minutes before even grabbing the soap. Emerged into the air-conditioned house to nap for two hours. Ate when I woke and waited for the energy to return. When it did, I wrote. Total word count: 2,146.
Source: 27

June 23, 2016
27 – Progress update
DAY 20 (June 23, 2016) – Tried hard to peak out and hit my catch up count number of a few thousand words and fell short. But I’ll tell you what, the writing I did manage today was good. It moved nicely, it felt solid and real. I really never ask for more. Total: 1,349.
Source: 27

June 22, 2016
27 – Progress update for June 22, 2016
DAY 19 (June 22, 2016) – Slumpy Slump and the Slumpsters. I have no idea what’s going on. I’m at a section of the book I’m interested to write about, excited about. The words just are not coming. I’ve been sitting here writing for the past three and a half hours and here’s the end result – Total: 286. I’ll come back, though. Always do.
Source: 27

June 21, 2016
Micro story “Three Things” included as part of New Zealand’s National Flash Fiction Day’s 22 Tiny Tales
Many many thanks to writer and editor Michelle Elvy for inviting me to take part in New Zealand’s National Flash Fiction Day’s 22 Tiny Tales.
These 22 stories, including my story “Three Things,” are all no more than 250 characters each, which, of course, includes spaces and punctuation. It’s intriguing to see what these writers did with that amount of space and with a one-day turnaround, no less.
Have a look and enjoy!

June 20, 2016
Recent updates to new book 27
June 16, 2016
Progress on 27 – June 16, 2016
DAY 13 (June 16, 2016) – I’m finished for today. Too much drama at home and too busy and exhausting of a day at work to keep sitting here writing sub par sentences and pretending it’s working or going to work tonight. One of those days. Behind again and all that jazz. What I did manage was good story-wise, though. I can clean the prose later. I can tell you without much spoiler action that I have once again killed a character based on my dad. Dad used to say that I had killed him a hundred times in my stories. Well, okay, make it a hundred and one, I guess. Total abysmal word count: 477. Evening update: I went back into the word jungle and got stubborn and determined. Kept on writing through the tired and the drama and the dread and whatever else the writer has to face down during this insane process. Got some more words. Final, final total word count: 894. Let’s go to sleep, how ’bout it.
Source: 27
