productiveYesterday, we read aloud through all of "Salammbô Redux," which came out to 46 typescript pages, or 10,069 words ("Little Conversations" was about half that length). I was very pleased with how it turned out, and I'd been worried it might not work, going back and writing the middle of a story after I'd already written its beginning and ending (which is basically what "Little Conversations" was).
I have this email from Jerome Dent:
I wasn’t sure if the proper place to ask this question was on the journal or not, so I decided to play it safe and email it. When you create characters do you make profiles for them? So many sites and books talk about character profiles and dossier’s and I think that you have amazing characters like Deacon, Dancy, and Chance. I was wondering if you agreed with the masses about the importance of the “profile”.
I know that a lot of authors use profiles, and yes, I understand it's part of the orthodoxy of workshops and how-to books. That said, no, it's not something I do myself. I never have. I begin a short story or novel with some general idea of who a character is, then allow them to grow organically via reaction with their environment (which is to say, the narrative). I can't really think of any time that I've sat down and worked out in detail who the characters are before beginning. If nothing else, that would rob me of the surprise of learning who they are as I write. Of course, as is always the case with writing, what works for one may not work for another, and I can imagine certain advantages in profiling characters beforehand. It just doesn't happen to work for me, and I certainly don't view it as necessary.
The little Cthulhu statuette Spooky put up on Etsy yesterday sold almost immediately, but you can still have a go at the current eBay auctions, which include a copy of the new paperback edition of Low Red Moon.
Last night, Spooky made spaghetti. We had a good walk in Freedom Park. Byron called. We finished another chapter of Dune (I truly admire that the chapters in this novel are neither titled nor numbered). We talked about Halloween decorations and costumes. That was yesterday.
I have scheduled tomorrow as a Day Off. It's a new idea I have, actually scheduling days off every seven or eight days or so, instead of waiting until I'm so exhausted I have to have a Day Off to recover.