Chicago has been great thus far. I’ve spent some time at the first Uno’s ever made, which was pretty cool. I’ve been walking around getting to know some of the history. I went to Jackson Park yesterday to visit the site of the World’s Fair that was hosted there in 1893. I’m getting great stuff out here. More soon!
Well, I’ve been doing an amazing ammount of writing as of late, of which I am very proud of. I’m going to see if I can bolster it some more by heading out west, though not too far, to see if I can get some inspiration on a few key points of the novel. I really need to get a feel for Illinois. The story has some big roots there and I want to get it right while managing to give it my own flavor. So starting Thursday I will be traveling to the Praire State and going from Chicago, to Springfield, even to Pickneyville. I’m going to soak it up and feel the Illinois. I’ll keep you posted.
Hello there, it’s been a while since my last update. Main reason for that is I have been making huge breakthroughs. I was on the phone with Chris Stahl last week and we had a conversation about how to make characters real and how to write good dialogue. That helped.
I’ve been abl to crank out a couple solid pages a day since, a few days I’ve turned out quite a few. It seems that I have been able to cure myself of the writer’s block.
Over the last year I’ve been working with poetry as well as prose, and I’ve found it a fun activity to help with your word choices in writing. Maybe a month ago or so my nephew showed me a hip-hop artist, Atmosphere, saying that he thought I would appreciate the lyrics. I have to say, he was right. Atmosphere’s music is not typical of the hip-hop scene. Check it out:
My lovely wife, Ellen, has left the house for the weekend. She’s taken our daughter on a trip to New York City with my sister-in-law and niece. The four of them are having a “girls weekend”, seeing a play, tramping around New York, and enjoying the sights.
This sits well with me, because that means this weekend it’s only myself and Dean, our beagle. I can finally get to work on some of these essays, my own work, and listen to this: I just recieved a call from an old friend, Steve Ingram. He’s been working in the english department at Tufts for a while now and just offered me a job as a second session summer prof. I’d be teaching seven weeks of creative writing, which will work out perfectly.
I figured I’d save the news for when Ellen and Jenny get home from NYC, that way I’ll have something to keep fuel on their excitment from the trip.
As far as sthe weekend is concerned, I figure I’ll meet with some of my fellow authors tonight at the Miracle of Science on Mass Ave. A night on the town with my boys, this will be good.
While I may be a night owl some nights, my daughter can’t stay up as late as I. Probably has something to do with the coffee I drink. But anyway, while I was tucking her in tonight I was reading to her from her new favorite adventure: Harry Potter.
I must say, when they originally hit the scene I dismissed this series as a child’s book. While yes, the Harry Potter series is geared toward a younger audience, I’ve notice that J.K. Rowling has a penchant for writing interesting stories.
My daugther and I have nearly finished the fourth book in the series, The Goblet of Fire, and I must say it’s a fun read for the both of us. As a writer, I can appreciate the time she has taken to creat a full world. It’s unbelievable, yet at the sametime, it is so believable. Her characters, while mostly children, behave like people. It’s inspirational.
As far as my own work today went, it was less than satisfactory. I did some work on a short story that I can hopefully get sent to a magazine soon. My big project now, my master piece, is sitting in a notebook on the second self of my night stand. It has remained there for quite sometime now, waiting for more work.
An old professer of mine once told me that “there is no such thing as writer’s block, that’s all just made up.” And while I’ve told that to many of my colleagues, I find myself bogged down at times.
I believe it’s time for bed, however, so I will fill you in more tomorrow.
Hello there folks. I’m Martin Dempsey, but feel free to call me Marty, I prefere things to remain casual. I am an author, originally a graduate of Brown University. I’ve been working for the past six years doing essays and some journalism. My friend and fellow academic, Chris Stahl, recently convinced me to start a blog. You can read Chris’ thoughts at:
Feel free to check up on him, as I’m sure he won’t mind, and tune into more from me. As I have plenty of free time (most of which is spent writing and looking at differnt publishers), I plan to place a few jems of thought in here. Most of it, of course, will be rubbish, but a few of it will be worth listening to. It’s a bit late now, so I’ll be sure to update tomorrow with any worth while findings I happen across.
