Eventually, it becomes impossible to describe something so intensely personal, or a shared experience, without ruining the magic.  I can only show the silhouette of the thing against the sun.

Wednesday morning I slept in, my sleep deprivation and nascent cold catching up with me.  We had the last of our critique groups that morning.  The quality of my critiques had slipped a bit, not least because I was having trouble staying awake in the best of circumstances.

Monday

I awoke at 5:30 AM.  My mind slogged while I rummaged for clothes to wear in the dark, my roommate still asleep next to me.  I checked the clock again: 5:54.  I nearly stumbled as I finished getting ready and made it outside to the driveway in front of the building where we all are staying.

I met six other students standing outside in the cold and dark, waiting.  Soon, JIm MacDonald emerged from the building, wearing his tan wide-brimmed hat.  We set off for the edge of Edgartown, a mile and a half away.

I awoke this morning from the only good night’s rest I’ll get for the rest of the week.

My feet hung from the foot of the bed, the comforter twisted around me.  The regular size twin beds in the guestroom aren’t quite long enough for my almost-six-foot height.  I get out of bed, brush up, and check my intense backlog of RSS reader items while my roommates awake.

The conversation soon turns to writing philosophies.  One of us wrote a semi-religious short story inspired by Buddhist imagery; the other has had multiple sales in magazines and anthologies.  I can’t help but be envious.  This guy clearly has his shit together, while I feel like I’m barely keeping up with the conversation some of the time.

In my convoluted travel itinerary to get to Martha’s Vineyard without flying directly to the island, I forgot one important fact:

Travel is exhausting.

Let’s start with the, um, start.  My flight was scheduled to leave at 9 AM from Tampa International.  I give myself two hours to pick up my ticket, get through security, and find my gate whenever I fly.  It’s always seemed a bit excessive, given how close some of my friends cut it when they fly.

Earlier this year, I applied to the workshop Viable Paradise, held annually at Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

When I was accepted in May, I thought there had been a mistake.

I have no published works under my name.  I’ve finished two novels, completed a rough draft of a third, and the half-formed bodies of half a dozen lay about my hard drive like unfinished ship models.  My education in composition and literary analysis is best described as “self-taught”: apart from Composition I and II in college, I’ve relied on reading dozens of how-to books in writing, as well as practicing the craft itself.  No, I thought, I couldn’t be ready.  I couldn’t be good enough to be taught by two of the best editors in the industry and a half dozen wonderful authors.

Zeno’s paradox, Creeping to both things dreaded And things beloved.

In just over a month, I will be participating for the fifth time in National Novel Writing Month, a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel during November.  I wrote the entirety of Herald of Change during my first NaNoWriMo, and half of Those Who Favor Fire in my second (both books are looking for publishing homes).  I completed the rough draft of Dahlia last year as well.  Many published authors, such as Mary Robinette Kowal, participate, and the website posts pep talks by other prominent authors encouraging participants to finish.

Red sunset dying Against the canal waters; I continue on.

Brandon Sanderson, epic fantasy writer, taught a writing class last year. His lectures are available online in video form; I’ve watched about half of them so far. If you’re familiar with Writing Excuses, he covers a lot of the basics that you might find helpful, including both craft and business topics.

After forgetting this blog for over a year and getting flagged as a malicious site, I performed some maintenance and got it up and running again.  Expect fewer essays and more stream-of-consciousness posts about nerdy shit.

Also, comments are turned off until further notice.  I just don’t have the time or patience to moderate.