It\u2019s been about 11 years, and finally I was able to get into my old desktop computer– the kind that had what we called a tower back in those days, and an old analog monitor. The very first computer I ever purchased and I believe it was close to $800. Funny I haven\u2019t purchased a computer that costs that much since. It\u2019s the computer that came with me from California to Georgia, Georgia to New York, New York back to California. Then, after 8 years, in 2011, it just died for some reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It died with my unfinished book on it\u2019s hard drive. Died with the electronic copy of my short story in its clutches along with journal entries. I\u2019ve always believed that some way, somehow I would be able to get back in there, that if God allowed me to start this journey of writing, He would allow me to finish it. But the longer I waited, hope began to fade, but you know what they say about faith, you only need the size of a mustard seed\u2026whatever that is\u2026I hear it\u2019s really small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this year I got more intentional. Actually it was a few years ago that I researched how to retrieve files from an inoperable computer. It said to put the hard drive of the broken computer into a computer that works. I did that and it worked, the only problem was the broken computer was password protected. I still couldn\u2019t get in. After doing all that work of learning how to restore the computer only to find out it was at the point of no return, then learning how to take the hard drive out and place it in another computer only for it not to work was frustrating. I shelved that project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few years later, I did more research on how to gets files off a busted computer and discovered I could purchase an external device that I could hook up to the hard drive and then upload the files on a different computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some years ago I bought such a device online, but never hooked it up to my old hard drive, and years later when I wanted to use it, I couldn\u2019t find all the pieces. So this year I bought another one, and yes, it worked. After a few YouTube videos and googled articles, I was able to get into my old hard drive, password protection be damned!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My primary goals were to get the electronic copy of my short story because I want to turn it into a novella \u2013 it\u2019s already long enough \u2013 and self-publish it. But, if I could come across the book I conceived of back when I was 16 and started writing when I was in college, but never finished, that would be an added bonus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what do you know, I did. I came across that book. I have several chapters written, chapters that I had written in my 20s. It was so interesting to read my voice back then. For the most part I thought I was a not so good writer who could occasionally turn out good shit. It took me forever to write things, but I was never satisfied. I\u2019m largely still that way. I think not as much as I used to be, else I wouldn\u2019t be writing here, but I\u2019m still very much a perfectionist when it comes to my writing. I\u2019m my own biggest fan and worst critic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I opened the first chapter of my unfinished book and began to read. And I must say, I marveled at my writing. Of course it could use some work, because hey, it\u2019s rare that I\u2019ll ever think it couldn\u2019t. But I really liked my writing-voice from back then. It had notes of Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I know what some of you are probably thinking didn\u2019t she say she\u2019s not a fan of Toni Morrison back in that \u201cThe Director\u201d post?<\/em> But it\u2019s not that I don\u2019t like her writing-style, I just don\u2019t like the subject matter I came across in the books I\u2019ve read. I\u2019ve only read two books in their entirety written by Toni Morrison: The Bluest eye, which I wasn\u2019t a fan of, and Sula, which I liked. I was assigned Beloved in an ethnic and minority literature class, but I wasn\u2019t into it and didn\u2019t finish it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For the most part, I don\u2019t like her focus on slavery and the segregated south. What I do like is her writing style. She does not take forever to get to the point. She\u2019s descriptive and yet concise at the same time, a quality I noticed in Yaa Gyassi\u2019s popular debut novel \u201cHomecoming\u201d which was heavily influenced by Toni Morrision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I remember some of those novels I was assigned in college I could skip ahead about 15-20 pages, and not miss much of nothing, but with Toni Morrison\u2019s work, I could do no such thing. I\u2019d turn ahead 3-4 pages, and be totally caught off-guard with the progression of the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The one thing I did like about \u201cThe Bluest Eye\u201d is the background story she gave each character, so that even if I didn\u2019t like the character, I at least got a chance to see where they were coming from. I at least understood how they got to be the way they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve borrowed that style in some of my own fiction writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyway, I said all that to say, I liked the writing-voice I discovered when I was reading that opening chapter. I just thought I was more descriptive than I am now, and I wrote with more soul, like the difference between soft rock and R&B. Soft rock is nice, but give me some R&B, please. There was a time when I thought I would just give up on that story. Afterall, it\u2019s been so long. But now I think I want to revisit it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But yes, I have the electronic copy of my short story which means it\u2019s time to start editing it. I think it was 48-pages single-spaced, which I don\u2019t understand, because the printed copy I have is 37-pages. But whatever. I was thinking if I edited seven pages a day, I could finish in a week. However will I actually edit seven pages a day?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I guess I could if I put my mind to it. We\u2019ll see. I\u2019m only editing for grammar and syntax, I\u2019m not changing the story. I want to stay true to my 20-something\u2019s voice. Then once I finish editing, I have to hire an editor to edit it, because there is only so much that I can catch. I need a professional for to handle this. So I\u2019ll need to research for and hire and editor, a cover artist and a printing company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a lot of work ahead, but baby steps\u2026hastened baby steps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s been about 11 years, and finally I was able to get into my old desktop computer– the kind that had what we called a tower back in those days, and an old analog monitor. The very first computer I…<\/p>\n