Thoughts on writing (or Hello again!)

I recently got my typewriter working properly and have loved using it. The following is the first piece I wrote on it.

There is something wonderfully tangible about typing on a typewriter. The tool hearkens back to writing in its earliest days. As I am learning, it is not the easiest feat. Challenges aside, the simple tangibility is wonderful. There are sounds you can only achieve from a typewriter. The weight of the keys under my fingers, the pressure and precision required to hit the correct keys at the correct time, is so different So wonderfully different. I wonder how Steve might have felt about this process.

He was fond of word processors, which, at their core, are simplified computers. I can not wait to type things out and learn the joy and frustration of editing my work by hand, one page at a time. I wonder how many pages I can type on this old thing once November arrives.

I have a very important bet/challenge going on with my mother and Nessa. We are all taking part in National Novel Writing Month. Whomever writes the most cumulative words by the month's end gets a free meal of their choice, paid for out of the loser's pocket. With that bet, my mother also has publishing contacts that are willing to take her manuscript. Upon completing my own manuscript, I intend to use these same contacts, but it hardly changes the facts. After four years of doing PR and reviews, my mother has contacts and connections I do not. I suppose I'm a little envious, but such is human nature.

My plans for this November are to write out Aracayn Darkwood's story as my boyfriend Josh relayed it to me when he ran a Dungeons & Dragons campaign last fall. I have felt, on rare occassions, like this is unfair. After all, I did not come up with the story on my own. On the other hand, the main character is entirely mine. Either way, this is the story I have resolved to tell - the one he gave me. Such a wonderful gift.

Aside from the obstacle of schooling my mother, I am struggling with other challenges I will face this fall. For one thing, I have not achieved 50k words within a thirty day time limit in the past three years. I also have more responsibilities at work. I am going to see about requesting some vacation time, but do not know if the company will allow it. The idea of several consecutive days off is nice, but I know I would leave my coworkers in something of a bind. Is my writing worth that to me? Ha. Such a silly question. If it were not worthwhile, the question would not be there. Well, I suppose this is giving me more practice on this old thing as well as getting me in the habit of writing every day. November, here I come.

My typewriter needs a name. Think on this.