Vladimir Nabokov published his first novel when he was twenty-five. I have been enjoying a class on his works so far this semester, especially because it ties in well with my Russian class and the fact that I’m trying to finish a novel. I have been putting a lot of work into “Never Enough” and am very optimistic about it. I am at nearly sixty pages and have only written half as many chapters as I expect to include. based on the formatting differences between book layout and standard 8.5 by 11 layout, one hundred to one hundred twenty pages (in standard format) should work out to be a respectable length for a novel. I hope to be able to split my time fairly evenly between finishing the story and revising what I have. we’ll see!
anyway. . . I’ve been having fun in my poetry class, as well. I’ve already written at least half of the total number of poems I’ll write for the semester. they just fall out of my brain onto the page these days. similarly, it will be a matter of revising. the russian course is intimidating. my section last semester had only 5 or 6 students, so I usually found myself in the top three-quarters of the class in ability. there are around twenty of us or more this semester, and I have fallen into the bottom quarter of the class. I might need to consider making flashcards or something to actually study between classes. it’s a novel idea, really.
I have secured legal representation for my tickets and expect to walk out without any moving violations, provided I pay a little extra cash to the courts. I am inclined to trust that the attorney who is helping me will be reasonable with his rates, but I remind myself that trusting attorneys is absurd. the good news is that I should have no problem continuing to drive.