Writing at work (WW3 retro-future utopia snippet)

[hmpf]

The bomb on Manchester never falls.

New York, Moscow, London, Leningrad - 15 million dead shock the world into unprecedented, unlikely sanity. Leaders meet, treaties are signed in a place picturesque and idyllic, far from the fallout. Pictures of men shaking hands in the newspaper, straining to smile.

It takes weeks after the official end of the hostilities for the people to start trickling back into the city. Sam and Gene and the others are among the first, along with other, dedicated members of the police. Somebody has to uphold the order, make the place safe.

They aren't needed. In the weeks of the return, as the city fills up slowly, people walk the streets as if in a dream, talk to each other in hushed voices, touch each other gently, disbelievingly. Many, trying on their lives like old shoes found in the attic, find they no longer fit.

***

Writing this took me one hour. It's from "Back to the Future (the Long Way 'Round)"

Comments

Re: Thanks.

[kernezelda]

'Nonetheless' referring to the hour it took to write. By your standards, is that not excessive speed? ;)

I have gotten copies of LOM 1-5 downloaded, because the disk that was given to me failed to play. I'll try to make time to watch this upcoming weekend, the third attempt.

Not really excessive speed for this kind of thing.

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

I've been known to write a page or more in an hour, occasionally, when I know where I'm going and how I'm going to get there. I'd say three short paragraphs in an hour is pretty normal for me - as long as I'm not blocked. Thing is, most times I *am* blocked. I'm writing like I'm driving a car with the brakes permanently on. I get stuck after a paragraph or two and then I stay there for weeks or months or years, and the only thing I can do is rewrite and revise the bits I already have. (This is one reason why I always have so many stories I'm working on in parallel. I'm always blocked on most of them, so I need to have alternative projects I can work on when I get stuck.)

I'll have to check out your LJ in the next few weeks if you're going to watch LOM! I'm always curious about reactions...

BTW...

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

if you discover you really like LOM, and if you happen to be among the minority who end up hating the last ep, this is the place to go:

http://community.livejournal.com/jumping_off - we've all jumped off of canon there. *g*

Warning: spoilery, obviously, as it's an anti 2.08-community.