• What were your goals last week and did you accomplish them?
• Describe what you worked on.
• Set goals for next week.
• Did you learn something during this week?

Here is a list of things that you can do each week as we work on our novels (suggestions welcomed).

• Writing on a novel
• Characterization
• World Building
• Relevant research

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Last Week's Goals

This was my second week of going to the local bookstore and writing two days in the week (i.e. treating my writing as a career rather than a hobby). Each day I only get about two hours of writing in, but it has been very successful this week. I got around 4,800 words written this week. Last night was the second of those days and as I neared the 2,000 word mark for the evening I started thinking "only 200 more words and I'm done." However, at that time I still had 45 minutes left before I would typically leave. So, instead of being "happy" with my 2,000 word daily average, I pushed on and got 2,700 words for the night. It was difficult, but I'm glad I pushed myself to write the entire two hours.

My goals for next week:

• Write scenes

This weekend I need to go over the remaining scenes I have since those are for the last third or so of my book. I wrote the "darkest hour" scene for the book last night. It wasn't very dark yet, but I'm at the point where the main character moves to do the final attempt to accomplish his goal. I need to review those scenes since it has been a long time since I've read those outlines.

What did I learn this week?

Well, so far dedicating time outside the house to write has been successful. I won't count it as my "method" yet until it works for at least a month. I've tried other writing times (early morning, lunch hour, and late night) and they have been successful in the short term. I'm optimistic though.

On the Shelf:
THE SHAMAN'S CURSE
THE IGNORED PROPHECY
BLOOD WILL TELL

DREAMER'S ROSE: Continue to let it rest.
Easy goal.

MAGE STORM: Send one more query out.
Yep.

SEVEN STARS: Get to chapter 25.
Nope. But I'm on chapter 23.

OTHER: Update my blog twice a week.
Yes.

Next Week's Goals:

On the Shelf:
THE SHAMAN'S CURSE
THE IGNORED PROPHECY
BLOOD WILL TELL

BLOOD WILL TELL is in the process of getting four readers. I'll probably make some revisions, give it a new title and then we'll see.
I'm jotting down ideas of how the other two might be changed.

DREAMER'S ROSE:
Continue to let it rest.

MAGE STORM:
Keep no less than six queries out at any time.

SEVEN STARS:
Keep up the momentum. Let's see if I can write all the way through to "THE END".

OTHER:
Update my blog twice a week.

Goals?

Last Week I kind of skipped making any goals. But my continuing standards.

New Arbor Day: 15 pages edited per day? Not once this week, but I have been reworking the beginning taking into account crits from the WCE group. The new ending simulatenously gives backstory and introduces two of the main protagonists, showing their relationship so later I won't have to explain it. The hard part was finding somewhere that wouldn't give something away too early.

Query letters: 3 letters? I've done the Synopsis (over 1000k), and am letting it rest, but I wanted to finish this reworked opening before I sent any out. Must stop procrastination!

Evangeline: 3 pages of new stuff? Maybe once. I did have a good session sitting down to write a scene which was mostly dialogue, but important stuff before one of the MC's has to deal with the next crisis.

Did some more writing in my "Storm Born". My hero is still stuck in Fairy land. (Oh boy want wise guys could make of that line) and the unicorn is still attacking him...I may have forgotten to mention that detail last time. My original thought was to have him chased to a castle where he is helped by the elf he knows and finds out the elf is royalty but now I'm thinking of just having him escape from the unicorn and get back through the "gate" he used to get to Fairy.

Worked some on my revision of Bright Lights. I split chapter three into two chapters so now there is ten in the book. Not sure if I can finish five chapters by the end of the month. I thought about sending them to a publisher listed in Markets for our Writing that is running a special this month. It'll be a kinda of "What the heck, most probably they will reject it but why not try" chance. I just happened to have a book almost ready for them.

Kinda worked on an idea for another novel. This one is a SF with a squad small warships lost through an uncharter warphole and they have to find their way back home type of plot.

There was another novel idea but can't think of it right now.

Oh yes, this isn't that idea but for some reason today I thought of what might be my first novel idea. It was a UF idea long time before I knew the term. And way before Jim Butcher started the UF movement. The idea was way, way back before I seriously considered trying to write pro. I wrote on note paper as something to do during break at work. I wanted to write and I was bored so I took care of both problems.

I was really struggling with New Arbor Day, but I reached a piece about some of the uses while revising a lot of others. My process was that firstly, why is ___ word worse than another word describing the same thing? We talk to our kids about going potty but tell them not to talk about s***? So for me I conclude the word or its use is not wrong, but can there be a manner in which it is used wrong?

I think so, if you are saying to offend than it would be wrong. Imagery is much the same, if there was no explicit instruction about vaginal birth for example, then how would mothers know what to expect in delivery or a husband-coach about how to help coach his wife through delivery? On the other, hand people can talk about certain organs for obvious shock value. It's not designed to edify the hearer, but to bring attention to the speaker.

Well the thought occurs to me that, while 'foul' language can be used to offend it can also be used to edify. There's a scene in "Tears of the Sun" where a young african royal has just had his friend/servant killed and Bruce Willis as a navy Seal is watching him deteriorate into a state of useless paralysis of mourning while combat is upon them. So he grabs the guy and tells him that if he didn't want his friend's death to be meaningless it was time for him to become a ****** man. It was used to shake.

So which would be worse a story like that or a story about a father calling his child stupid to tear him down? I think the latter.

Of course then you get into the more difficult question. If you know a word, while not inherently wrong to use, might offend someone anyway, should you avoid using it? By offend, I mean hurt someone's conscience not hurt their taste or sensibilities.

For me, where I ended up was asking, why is it in the story? I mean I know of a story about a man who sleeps with his friend and subordinate's wife and then to cover the resulting pregnancy kills his friend...and this guy is our hero? They don't even use any foul language, but which is worse the presence of such a word or a story about a guy who commits such acts? Well if ended there I would say the whole story shouldn't have been written. The man should be forgotten. But instead God steps in and redeems the story about David by punishing him and turning him from his evil.

So does the story redeem the use of a word or anything for that matter? And would the removal of that element lessen the redemption? I mean suppose David looked at his neighbor's wife and for a moment thought something inappropriate but then immediately he heard a voice from Heaven say "ahem..." And then he says "Sorry, Lord" and God says "well I'm going to make you stub your toe."

The redemption is lessoned because we have glossed over the fault. If a villain is evil, why should we gloss over his evil? Or if a hero stumbles, why should pretend it was nothing?

Having said that, there are things I won't write because I for myself refuse to meditate on them. And things I won't have any of my characters say because I believe they are inherently wrong. Not every detail needs to be presented anymore than I have to tell the reader how often my characters have to visit the lavoratory.

I think that a word is bad both because of the word itself and what it means. And to respond to what you say later there are words that offend certain people even though not normal obscenities. They are having a debate concerning a certain word Mark Twin used and whether or not they should mess with his writing by removing it.

And of course certain actions can be considered obscene and not edifying to read about. But they can also be used as examples of how not to be and what can happen if you do them. The bad guy is expected to do bad and even evil things. The action or a word for that matter may offend some people but if you dwell too much on not offending people you won't be able to write anything because there's always someone who will find something to be offended over. But offending God is another matter and so is on purpose writing something to offend. There have been some writers who have done that last, included one I read about two months ago. She may have included something just to freak out a certain group. I say may because there's a chance she phrased her MC's comments more because she thought they fit than, as it sounded, because she was saying the comment.

We know that all heros, real ones and most fictional, are human therefore they are not perfect and have foibles or out and out sin problems. Most of my MCs are far from perfect even though they try. Orson Scott Card has a section on that type of character in his Viewpoint and Character book. I do not usually go into details about certain acts but I give enough details to show it happened.

But I also worry about offending myself. I don't use those words and I don't like to read or hear a lot of them which is one reason I haven't watched Men In Black. I tolerate it if there's a couple especially if it comes as a surprise. That happened today in a book I'm reading. The writer hardly ever uses obscene words even though many of his characters would but out of the blue there was this phrase. I could see the character saying it so you might say it fit.

But at the same time how else do you have an angry rapist tell his victim that he's gong to Blanky blank her a--. He wouldn't say rear end. I did kinda censor that one but at the same time I let my MC, hurt, rageful and recovering form panic, say something without covering it up. She would be the type of person who would say something like that under those circumstances. But I sat there and stared at the screen for a few minutes trying to decide. Maybe in this case dog crap might work, its not as bad. And I hope it's okay for here. But I don't know.