Un-Fun Writing

The writing I did over the summer was big fun.

Top of the list – my fiction.  I was hoping to spend way more time on Shadow’s Road, but just thinking about the time I did spend on it makes me giddy-happy even now.

Did a little writing on my newly-updated, just-gorgeous website over the summer, too.  Design is by Janet Guastavino, with additional design by Drew Guastavino – wait till you see it!  Unfortunately, you do have to wait, because one page still wants for a few sentences.  Any day now, promise.

Got a few letter-emails off to long ignored friends.  That was nice.  Did some light editing on a few fabulous blog posts by Neil Jimenez of Part-Time Gamers and Bryn Jimenez, Bad-Ass Soprano.  That was nicer.

But it wasn’t all fun and games writing this summer.  There was some not-so-fun writing I couldn’t ignore.  Job-related, naturally.  My syllabi and instructional materials needed a bunch of revisions. Fun-writing was relegated to the back-burner time and again, while I generated and updated production calendars and contact sheets, and wrote work emails.

Now classes are up and running, auditions for the Fall shows are this weekend.  The semester has started in earnest … and hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks.

Instead of sneaking in some last-gasp fun-writing before homework is submitted and grading begins, I’ve been mounting a written defense.

Angry letters are fun.  Nothing like self-righteous umbrage to inspire scathing, articulate prose.  Composing pithy prose while reeling from the shock of an unjust accusation?  No fun at all.  Not for me, anyway.

I have a good internal editor.  It’s an internal lawyer I’m lacking.  It’s too easy for me to say too much in defense, to over-explain.  Too easy to be lured into justification, counter-accusation, and exasperation.  When my stomach is in knots and my brain has short-circuited, it’s way too easy to be overwhelmed by the task at hand.

Even after I get this defense biz behind me, I’m likely looking at three months at least of un-fun writing.  Mostly production meeting reports, oh joy.  Lecture notes.  Not un-fun, exactly, but not exactly writing, either.

How can I keep my writerly soul alive?

Well, my plan is to keep it alive with this blog.  Neither Here Nor There – the second-best big-fun writing project of the summer.

Yes, ok, it’s mostly a pastiche of memoir-esque ramblings.  Yes, a goodly portion of my blog writing-process is searching for images “labeled for reuse.” Yes, only a few of my nearest and dearest read it.  Yes, I know, I have yet to figure out how to get a “follow this blog” widget happening.

I’m working on it, though.  I did spiff up the WordPress settings this summer.  And I found a “Neither Here Nor There” image to use.

Most importantly, and most fun, I posted weekly.  The fun was partly in writing the blog (who doesn’t enjoy putting their oh-so wise and clever ideas into words?).  The greater pleasure was getting those words out into the world on a regular basis.  Made me feel like a writer again.

So, despite that all my time has just be re-commandeered by my job, I’m aiming to keep this blog thing going.  During tech weeks and holidays.  During midterms and finals.  Whatever.  No matter.  Perpetual un-fun will be un-done.