clues at the scene

clues at the scene

Saturday, October 13, 2018

The Cleaning of the Pens

At left, the cleaning of the pens at hand.

I use the copper Lilliput from Kaweco despite it requiring cartridges. It travels well even on airplanes.

There is a Lamy Studio pen in there with the ink converter reservoir. Also a couple of Cross pens one of which is an anniversary gift from 1999 and so never leaves the desk, now. It's an adventurous pen.

I've completed a couple of non-fiction works over the course of the spring and the summer. I've been to Rocky Mountain National Park and Yellowstone Park in that same time. I've chased trout a great deal. I've rolled out a new product to a customer. I've improved my chess game.

It's been a good year so far but for fiction.

I have drafted a few incomplete runs at short stories that have gotten stuck in my throat. They're still there.

I've written a couple of new short stories both of which need some work. One is quite good but needs the polish I haven't done in the last month.

Now, back to long form fiction and a story I've figured out how to tell.

Am I good enough yet to tell the story I intend? We'll not know unless I do the work all the way to completion.

First, the washing of the pens.

Now, the writing of the prose.

It'll be a grand autumn. 

2 comments:

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

I've always wondered if it would be hard to write fiction and nonfiction at the same time. Seems they would use different parts of the brain (which I guess could work both in your favor or against it!)

If I could read my own handwriting, maybe I'd write longhand more often. :)

jack welling said...

I can't do both at once with any skill.

Non-fiction is about aligning facts into a picture of optimal clarity for the end user. Sure, there is a little of the author's voice and an attempt to present the facts in an engaging manner; but, compared to lining out a difficult piece of dialogue -- meh.

I'm glad to be back in the conflicting worlds of fiction. Show it, tell it, summarize it, omit it? These are happy thoughts.

I've my first murder on paper this weekend in almost eight months. It's good to be back the world of the desperate and the depraved. I'm touring my world through the eyes of my detective. I hope people like him.