Can I Buy Me a Vowel?

A bit too wordy. That's me these days. Trying to finish a fiction novel, fast. I'm up to 17,000 words. Only about 80,000 more to go-- or something like that. Words words words.

But writing pros have advised, "Never give yourself word goals. Write the story. Feel the story." 

Phooey.

I'd never finish this if I didn't make myself cram something out every day.  Feelings or no feelings. I'm the first to admit, I'm turning into a hand cramped anti-socialite as I jam out the plot, forcing myself rain or shine, sleep or no sleep to hit a 1,000 word day requirement, 7,000 by week end no matter what. I wouldn't ever get done if I depended on waiting for "the mood". Much of life is like that, cramming in what we have to. Just cause we have to.

I'm a music fanatic. I play piano nearly every day. I play music all the way into work. I play music when I wake up, right before I go to bed. Whenever I can. But turning on the radio and hearing one of the many one hit wonders...it all makes me often wonder why our generation doesn't have composers as prolific and as extraordinary as Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, and so on.

The sheer magnitude, complexity and quantity of their compositions is insane.

Now that my feeble efforts to write a little novel are wearing me down, I wonder constantly, how the heck did someone like Bach do it?

Especially, when you consider that he juggled an extremely demanding job which kept him busy with people and demands from the break of dawn until late evening. Not to mention, he was in Northern Europe at the same latitude as the middle of Canada, where half the year the sun set pitch black by mid afternoon. At the end of the long day, the pitch black of night with nothing electric to enlighten and inspire his efforts, he'd return home to a house full of kids, a lot of kids, where when all was quiet, he'd write his crazy complicated music with a quill pen by candlelight, no erasers, on limited supply of expensive paper, no computer, no backspace. Etc.

I think it goes back to my first post, my very first post here, which I dedicated to those who know sacrifice, discipline, hard work first hand. Today, our culture demands immediacy in everything, especially in love, especially in getting what we want. Everything's meant to be now, right now. Get it now; it's a premise that never asks for sacrifice. There is discipline in doing what's right. There's discipline in being good at what you do. There's discipline, simply, in being good.

So I jam out a few words, late at night. I hope they're reasonably intelligible, because late at night, I'm definitely not as gifted as Bach. Then about 2 p.m. tomorrow at work, can you send in a wake up call? I'm finding I need one.

Comments

[KY Woman]

RING! RING! YOU AWAKE?
Amazing as to how much our ancestors accomplished with what they had. Yet they persevered, and got er done! As I know you will. Set those goals high. Reach for the stars, and one day without realizing how, You will have accomplished the impossible 70K word race.
Faith and Smiles