Friday, June 10, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Writing Schedule
Writing has been going damn well, which pleases me greatly. The secret to this month's success? Sitting down and just doing it. Finally.
My three current projects are The Novel, Blood Surrogate (not the actual title), and another one called Accords. The Novel is the one that I need to dedicate a month to rewriting, which is going to be fun and torturous and which I've been putting off since Fall. Blood Surrogate I'm currently working on, trying a different method of writing. Instead of going from beginning to end like I normally do I'm trying to write the parts as they come to me. The beginning is done (and needs to be rewritten), and the end is almost complete. Next up- the middle and blog posts from my character, which will be interesting. Lots of good scenes roaming around in my head but first I need to finish the end. My process for this one is to get a scene out completely before moving on to the next part, whatever that might be. The Accords is a story I started a while back, got distracted from and then came back to to find that it's not so bad. The storyline is completely mapped out in my head but the part holding me back is the politics. I have a Council style situation with lots of politics and backstabbing. I 100% have to work out the rules of engagement before I get to that section. There will be no flubbing over it and coming back to it later.
I did something I never do and let my good friend and editor Bridget Locke take a look at Accords in the hopes that she'd have some fresh ideas about Council law that I might have overlooked. Instead, she sent me a message saying FINISH THIS NOW! That's how much she liked it. (: Such a great compliment, it means a lot to me for her to have felt that way about the story. I love my stories, even the ones that are terribly written, but to have someone else love them too made me very very happy.
So setting myself goals and sticking with them, despite this being my birthday month which means I can count one weekend of unproductiveness:
-Finish up the end of Blood Surrogate, get at least two parts of the middle written and start on the main char's blog.
-Accords; get it out and figure out if the political map you've made is going to work or will need to be redone in the editing process.
-Figure out what month you want to dedicate to The Novel and do it. Do it do it do it!
My three current projects are The Novel, Blood Surrogate (not the actual title), and another one called Accords. The Novel is the one that I need to dedicate a month to rewriting, which is going to be fun and torturous and which I've been putting off since Fall. Blood Surrogate I'm currently working on, trying a different method of writing. Instead of going from beginning to end like I normally do I'm trying to write the parts as they come to me. The beginning is done (and needs to be rewritten), and the end is almost complete. Next up- the middle and blog posts from my character, which will be interesting. Lots of good scenes roaming around in my head but first I need to finish the end. My process for this one is to get a scene out completely before moving on to the next part, whatever that might be. The Accords is a story I started a while back, got distracted from and then came back to to find that it's not so bad. The storyline is completely mapped out in my head but the part holding me back is the politics. I have a Council style situation with lots of politics and backstabbing. I 100% have to work out the rules of engagement before I get to that section. There will be no flubbing over it and coming back to it later.
I did something I never do and let my good friend and editor Bridget Locke take a look at Accords in the hopes that she'd have some fresh ideas about Council law that I might have overlooked. Instead, she sent me a message saying FINISH THIS NOW! That's how much she liked it. (: Such a great compliment, it means a lot to me for her to have felt that way about the story. I love my stories, even the ones that are terribly written, but to have someone else love them too made me very very happy.
So setting myself goals and sticking with them, despite this being my birthday month which means I can count one weekend of unproductiveness:
-Finish up the end of Blood Surrogate, get at least two parts of the middle written and start on the main char's blog.
-Accords; get it out and figure out if the political map you've made is going to work or will need to be redone in the editing process.
-Figure out what month you want to dedicate to The Novel and do it. Do it do it do it!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Writing Marathon
I've been writing all day and it seems like the end is not in sight. Matter of fact, the end seems to be no nearer than it was yesterday. Ah well, at least it's close. I can taste it...
Friday, March 25, 2011
Back from the Writing Dead
At least that's what it feels like. After reading various blogs about making yourself sit down and DO IT, that's exactly what I did. And it worked. I'm back writing.
What a glorious feeling.
I'm trying a different way of how I work on a project. The story I'm working on I've had outlined for quite a while. I've started and stopped it so many times because for whatever reason writing it all the way through has been horribly difficult. I wanted to get to the "good parts" and get them out, but kept denying myself. When I realized that wasn't working, I decided to let myself go for it. I have the outline, after all. Why not write what I want to write and go back and complete the rest? So far this strategy seems to be working well for me. The beginning is written, some middle parts are sketched out and ready for fill in, and the end is almost complete. I can't decide of the ending is going to be dark and a little scary or more light-hearted than I usually write. We'll see how it goes. I plan on completing the end by Sunday (maybe even tonight!) then going back and working on the middle.
I'd like to say the story will be complete by next week but I'm thinking it will be more like the end of April. The story involves a blogger, so the next part will be making blog entries like she would be doing. Most won't make it into the story but I think it's an important part of filling out the character in my head and will make the middle section go smoother.
Another note: in a few weeks I'll be turning 35 and obviously my goal for this blog was not accomplished. Am I sad? Yes. Am I irritated with myself? Not really. Should I be? Probably. I made a goal and I did not make it, and I don't feel like I put the effort in to make the goal happen. This was all on me. But I'm going to continue with this blog (and not change it to PublishedBy36) and keep going with my goals. Small steps seem to work better for me, and right now that small step is getting a few more stories finished and polishing up the one that is done.
What a glorious feeling.
I'm trying a different way of how I work on a project. The story I'm working on I've had outlined for quite a while. I've started and stopped it so many times because for whatever reason writing it all the way through has been horribly difficult. I wanted to get to the "good parts" and get them out, but kept denying myself. When I realized that wasn't working, I decided to let myself go for it. I have the outline, after all. Why not write what I want to write and go back and complete the rest? So far this strategy seems to be working well for me. The beginning is written, some middle parts are sketched out and ready for fill in, and the end is almost complete. I can't decide of the ending is going to be dark and a little scary or more light-hearted than I usually write. We'll see how it goes. I plan on completing the end by Sunday (maybe even tonight!) then going back and working on the middle.
I'd like to say the story will be complete by next week but I'm thinking it will be more like the end of April. The story involves a blogger, so the next part will be making blog entries like she would be doing. Most won't make it into the story but I think it's an important part of filling out the character in my head and will make the middle section go smoother.
Another note: in a few weeks I'll be turning 35 and obviously my goal for this blog was not accomplished. Am I sad? Yes. Am I irritated with myself? Not really. Should I be? Probably. I made a goal and I did not make it, and I don't feel like I put the effort in to make the goal happen. This was all on me. But I'm going to continue with this blog (and not change it to PublishedBy36) and keep going with my goals. Small steps seem to work better for me, and right now that small step is getting a few more stories finished and polishing up the one that is done.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Today's Practice of Self-Discipline brought to you by...
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/03/02/pantser-versus-plotter/
Great article on the benefits of plotting a story BEFORE you get into the meat of this. In my own writing, I tend to write the first 30 pages on pure creative steam. Then I... slowly... get... bogged... down. If it hadn't been for outlining, I would have never finished the first draft of my novel. Currently I'm working on plotting a story I came back to and was surprised to find halfway decent. This is my reintroduction into self-discipline. After this, I will outline the second draft of the novel. Secondary character sketches will also be included in this.
Urgh! When did writing become *work*?
Great article on the benefits of plotting a story BEFORE you get into the meat of this. In my own writing, I tend to write the first 30 pages on pure creative steam. Then I... slowly... get... bogged... down. If it hadn't been for outlining, I would have never finished the first draft of my novel. Currently I'm working on plotting a story I came back to and was surprised to find halfway decent. This is my reintroduction into self-discipline. After this, I will outline the second draft of the novel. Secondary character sketches will also be included in this.
Urgh! When did writing become *work*?
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
How Not to Starve and Die as a Writer
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/03/01/how-not-to-starve-and-die-as-a-writer/
"Let’s assume, however falsely, that two types of fishermen exist in the world. The first identifies as a fisherman when he is asked, “What do you do in your spare time?” The second identifies as a fishermen when he is asked, “What do you do for a living?” Nothing fundamentally wrong with either answer. But each answer says something different about each type of fisherman.
Ask yourself the same question about being a writer. Is it a spare time thing? Or is this an, “I want to do this for a living” thing? Sounds obvious, but if you’re in the hobbyist camp, no harm, no foul to you, but this post probably isn’t for you."
"Let’s assume, however falsely, that two types of fishermen exist in the world. The first identifies as a fisherman when he is asked, “What do you do in your spare time?” The second identifies as a fishermen when he is asked, “What do you do for a living?” Nothing fundamentally wrong with either answer. But each answer says something different about each type of fisherman.
Ask yourself the same question about being a writer. Is it a spare time thing? Or is this an, “I want to do this for a living” thing? Sounds obvious, but if you’re in the hobbyist camp, no harm, no foul to you, but this post probably isn’t for you."
Monday, February 28, 2011
Kicking it in the butt!
Getting back into the swing of things was helped by finding a story that wasn't painful to read. Imagining all the work needed to rewrite something was getting tedious but this story... isn't... so... bad. Unfortunately I never wrote out a quick outline to help guide me after putting it down for a few (make that six) months. Boyyyyy.. big mistake on this one. I remember vaguely where I was going with it but not major plot pivot points I had worked out. Time to do it all over again!
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