Processing the Process

Great Weekend. Lately we've been working as hard on Saturday and Sunday as we do during the rest of the week. The last couple of days have been much more laid back though, and much, much more relaxing and enjoyable. Went for a short hike with the munchkins yesterday in a very pretty state park near here with some gorgeous bottomland swamp/forest trails. Not hot enough yet to be miserable, so it was a real treat. Fresh air'll do wonders for ya. I recommend it highly.

Read Cory Doctorow's new Little Brother last week, and passed it on to the LOML on Friday. He didn't sleep until it was finished in the wee hours. We both liked it very much - I think it has a lot to say to its YA audience. They've grown up in a world where technology is both ubiquitous taken for granted - these are kids who've never known a world without the internet. Because of that, many may not see the harm in data mining practices and the slow but sure turning over of our rights to privacy. Little Brother presents the argument that we have to be very careful in our management of our personal information in such a way that kids can identify with and understand. He explains a lot of techno-savvy terms, along with their possible implications, but the text never sounds preachy. I especially liked the afterwards which explain the tech in a little more detail but also give the reader information about where to go for more...well, information. Highly recommended.

Also got a little work done on the novel this weekend, mostly plotting points and characterizations. To be honest, lately when I think about working on this project, I find myself afraid. Sounds weird, I know, but in my never-finished-a-novel before mind it looms as a huge undertaking, and I worry about doing it right. As if on cue, Gaiman posted last night,

"In a first draft, you get to explode. The objective (at least for me) is to get it down on paper, somehow. Battle through the laziness and the not-enough-time and the this-is-rubbish and everything else, and just get it written. Whatever it takes."

That made me feel better. If he can feels like his work is crap the first time around and it still somehow comes out great, I at least have a shot. So, today I'll soldier on.

12 May 2008