I wrote the first draft of Find Ray T in 8 days, while buzzed on beer. I wanted to see what would happen if I did that, so I took a week off from work and got it done from start to finish...and the basic structure hasn't changed. Spoiled actor is forced to help the mob (Mafia to start with, shifted to Russian) find a snitch who put their boss in jail and vanished into the witness protection program. Why the actor? The snitch wrote a book about his exploits and the actor played him in the movie version, then boasted he'd met the man to show him the film. Only it was all hype, and now he can't figure out what to do because no one knows where the snitch is, and the FBI won't help.
I played it for laughs as well as action and suspense from the start. Got my characters down pat. Even after workshopping it in a writer's group, it kept its shape. So I know I can do it...when I'm drinking. And maybe thats' the only way. Because I ain't gettin' it done this week, not on Wrecker or Killer Tiger or Death Tiger or whatever the hell it wants to call itself, these days. I need to be building up Bugzters in my brain for the novel-writing challenge, which starts in about 48 hours.
Oh, well...it was a thought. I'm halfway done. Sort of. And I did start late and have to work this week. So I have all my excuses lined up nice and ready to pick from. Only I gotta stop that. No excuses. I was doing it for the wrong reason -- to get my brain clear and keep it busy till November 1st. That's not good enough to make the story come together...and I really know better.
So...now it's set. For me to write free and uncritically, I gotta have a six-pack in the fridge. Not wine; that just makes me mellow and sleepy. And I don't really like whiskey except mixed in with something where I can't taste it. Can you be like Hemingway on Amstel Light instead of Wild Turkey? We'll see what happens when I take time off around Christmas.
Hmm...maybe I'll OD on eggnog.
I played it for laughs as well as action and suspense from the start. Got my characters down pat. Even after workshopping it in a writer's group, it kept its shape. So I know I can do it...when I'm drinking. And maybe thats' the only way. Because I ain't gettin' it done this week, not on Wrecker or Killer Tiger or Death Tiger or whatever the hell it wants to call itself, these days. I need to be building up Bugzters in my brain for the novel-writing challenge, which starts in about 48 hours.
Oh, well...it was a thought. I'm halfway done. Sort of. And I did start late and have to work this week. So I have all my excuses lined up nice and ready to pick from. Only I gotta stop that. No excuses. I was doing it for the wrong reason -- to get my brain clear and keep it busy till November 1st. That's not good enough to make the story come together...and I really know better.
So...now it's set. For me to write free and uncritically, I gotta have a six-pack in the fridge. Not wine; that just makes me mellow and sleepy. And I don't really like whiskey except mixed in with something where I can't taste it. Can you be like Hemingway on Amstel Light instead of Wild Turkey? We'll see what happens when I take time off around Christmas.
Hmm...maybe I'll OD on eggnog.
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