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Sunday Snippet
Apr. 19th, 2020 05:56 pmWelp, my writing streak ended yesterday. I wrote every day from February 14 through April 17, which is darn awesome. I’m a little disappointed that I couldn’t keep the streak going unbroken, but I was tired. As my friend Joscelyn says, you can’t keep pouring from an empty cup.
Instead of forcing writing, I focused on my day job. I think what I did will help my students. I also scrolled back through my WIPs. There is a lot of potential in that file. I haven’t shared a Sunday Snippet before. This is from a story that has a solid start, but I haven’t found the emotional through line yet. I have about 1500 words in the draft. I’m not ready to give up on it. Also? Apparently, I am a fan of the compound-complex sentence.
It had been, Shen Wei thought, a mistake to refuse Zhao Yunlan’s offer of a ride to the hotel in which the Bioengineering and Translational Medicine Conference was being held. Shuiwan was two hours north of Dragon City, home to a very good research university, and when the head of the biology department and conference organizer, Dr. Qiu, approached Shen Wei three months back to give an address at the conference as well as present the paper he’d recently co-authored with Li Qian, he happily accepted. Things had been quiet since they’d settled the whole nasty business with the Regent. Shen Wei had been foolish to believe things would stay quiet, however, and he’d spent the bulk of last week — and the bulk of dark energy reserves — quelling the beginnings of a rebellion.
He was also being foolish, Zhao Yunlan insisted, for not canceling his speech. But the BTMC didn’t require the Black Cloak Envoy. It only required Professor Shen, his soft voice and mild expression of thoughtful interest. It required him to shake hands, make small talk with other professors, answer questions with Li Qian, and he had enough energy for that. He had been looking forward to the simple demands of academia. Besides, he didn’t want to inconvenience Zhao Yunlan.
Instead of forcing writing, I focused on my day job. I think what I did will help my students. I also scrolled back through my WIPs. There is a lot of potential in that file. I haven’t shared a Sunday Snippet before. This is from a story that has a solid start, but I haven’t found the emotional through line yet. I have about 1500 words in the draft. I’m not ready to give up on it. Also? Apparently, I am a fan of the compound-complex sentence.
It had been, Shen Wei thought, a mistake to refuse Zhao Yunlan’s offer of a ride to the hotel in which the Bioengineering and Translational Medicine Conference was being held. Shuiwan was two hours north of Dragon City, home to a very good research university, and when the head of the biology department and conference organizer, Dr. Qiu, approached Shen Wei three months back to give an address at the conference as well as present the paper he’d recently co-authored with Li Qian, he happily accepted. Things had been quiet since they’d settled the whole nasty business with the Regent. Shen Wei had been foolish to believe things would stay quiet, however, and he’d spent the bulk of last week — and the bulk of dark energy reserves — quelling the beginnings of a rebellion.
He was also being foolish, Zhao Yunlan insisted, for not canceling his speech. But the BTMC didn’t require the Black Cloak Envoy. It only required Professor Shen, his soft voice and mild expression of thoughtful interest. It required him to shake hands, make small talk with other professors, answer questions with Li Qian, and he had enough energy for that. He had been looking forward to the simple demands of academia. Besides, he didn’t want to inconvenience Zhao Yunlan.
