Looking for work (and possibly an adventure)

Ever since graduation in May, I’ve been doing my best to support myself and be 100% financially independent.  I haven’t gotten a steady, well-paying day job yet, but fortunately summers in Utah are cheap and I’ve more or less been able to make ends meet. That’s not to say it’s been easy, though.  I’m operating… Continue reading Looking for work (and possibly an adventure)

Story notebook #2

A while ago I rediscovered my first story notebook and wrote a few posts on it.  I promised I’d do the same for my other story notebooks, so here’s the next one. For those of you who may be surprised that I’m sharing all my story ideas, let me explain why I’m doing this.  First,… Continue reading Story notebook #2

Forward to new ground

A couple days ago, I finished writing through the material I’d written for Worlds Away From Home back in 2008 before I dropped the project.  For the first time since March, I find myself drafting entirely new material. It’s a little bit unnerving; I’m a much better reviser, I feel, than straight up writer.  Revising… Continue reading Forward to new ground

Thoughts on the convolutions of discovery writing

It’s been forever since I posted, so I figured I’d put something up and let you guys know what I’ve been up to. I’m happy to say that Worlds Away From Home is going well; I wrote just under 20k this week, which is more than I’ve written in a long time.  I hope to… Continue reading Thoughts on the convolutions of discovery writing

Falling back into the groove

Today I surprised myself and wrote nearly 4k words, some of which might actually be good enough to keep.  Huzzah! The novel is coming along very nicely, and I’m starting to get really excited with where it’s going.  That’s huge, because up to this point, the nagging “this is crap, what are you doing with… Continue reading Falling back into the groove

Second Quarter 2010 report

As you may or may not know, I keep a spreadsheet of my daily word counts.  Nerdy, I know, but you’d be surprised how helpful it can be with keeping goals and staying motivated.  As part of that, I’ve decided to do a quarterly report here on my blog.  Here’s my report for April 2010… Continue reading Second Quarter 2010 report

The need to change

I picked up this sign at institute last Wednesday. The lesson was on our desires; specifically, how the thing that we truly desire deep down is often the thing that we get. The main reason I posted this sign on the door was to motivate me to get a better job than my current one. … Continue reading The need to change

Quick update

Just a quick update on things, since it’s been forever since I’ve blogged. The Utah Valley Democrats offered me a position, but it wasn’t the internship they’d advertised, so I turned it down.  They wanted me to do all their phone surveys, for 20 hours per week at $8.50 an hour, working evenings and Saturdays… Continue reading Quick update

The wilderness is calling me…

…and I’m kind of hesitant to answer. Four years ago, my sister went through Wilderness Quest, a wilderness therapy organization based in Monticello, Utah.  At the end of the program, I went down with my whole family for family therapy.  The experience was incredible–intense, emotional, and very life changing for all of us. Fast forward… Continue reading The wilderness is calling me…

An interesting concept

Last night, I was hanging out with a friend of mine and a couple of girls in the apartment complex where I currently live.  We got to talking about books, and one of the girls said something really interesting: Every book needs to have one thing that the main character knows that the reader doesn’t… Continue reading An interesting concept