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Hopefully, everyone has made some progress.
I have. Not as much as I would've liked, but more than my beginning average. (I'm now averaging about 500 words--2 pages--a night.) I hope to begin expanding on the collaboration project's outline that my partner and I have been kicking around for about 6 months. And I want to clean up a flash story to shoot out to market. (I'm still waiting to hear back on one.)
My wife took a tumble down the cellar stairs--the day before yesterday--and sprained her ankle bad enough to be given an air-cast and crutches. (It was daylight hours, and she wasn't at full power...) She's not the type to sit around for long, so it's frustrating her. I've been sick--with little rest--keeping up with our 3 kids and her, and catching up on my art gig at Flash Fiction Online. It's been tough, but I feel victorious to have put in at least a page a day this week.
Goals for this week:
1) End Chapter 4 and develop the time transition necessary to fuel the plot.
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Hope your wife is better soon. I've done 9800 words since I started working on the new project, got the first two chapters to the publisher, and he liked them.
I'm still reading and trading out here on Harper street, which is up as a 'continue the opening" at EE.
My goal is to get caught up on reading for my friends this weekend, and do another ten thousand words this weekend and coming week.
[This message has been edited by debhoag (edited October 03, 2008).]
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I got some more work done on my outline early in the week, but the last few days I've mostly been working on my Sudden Fiction entry. Now it's turned in, and if I get the chance to sleep in tomorrow, I might actually be ready to finish this phase of outlining and move on. I need to figure out what happens next though. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I can feel a brilliant idea taking shape.
My goal for next week: Have a brilliant idea, finish the rough outline, and start merging all the points of view into one cohesive timeline. November isn't as far away as it looks my Nano friends!
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Yikes, IB, hope your wife feels better soon.
I was slowed down this week by a bad cold and a Veg. Ecology exam. But the outline is coming along, chapter 2 is FINALLY done, and I'm getting started writing chapter 3. I've got a nice open night tonight, so hopefully I'll make some good progress.
So yeah, for next week, I hope to have chapter 3 done, and get even more work done on the outline. I've finally straightened out some of the major plot ideas that were giving me trouble, so now it's on to the details!
::tosses some inspiration particles toward Unwritten:: (and I'm not ignoring your email; I just have to find the right person in my department to ask.)
[This message has been edited by BoredCrow (edited October 03, 2008).]
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Made miniscule progress on the Snowflake method. Plagued by illness (self and family), poor sleep, and almost daily headaches. Not to mention hubby encouraging me to play online RPG which contributes to said problems...
Goals: keep going, make progress. Avoid excessive distractions.
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From last week: My goals for next week are to finish out the edits my editor has sent over so I can send out the manuscript by the end of the week, at the latest. Then get back on the polishing. Oh and to get to the title. I still don't have a title for this bad boy.
I did a sloppy job, but I did get edits done. Not a good rewrite or polish, just the para/line/correction suggestions I have been putting off doing as I received them over the past three months. I didn't come up with a sure thing for the title, only decided not to decide. I will keep the perspective title of "Reagan's Redemption" in further queries.
I haven't heard back from the agent. I'm getting myself ready for the dissapointment and with every day that goes by, I steady myself for the worst even more, so I'm feeling quite negative about the whole thing by now. I've even got my next querying steps lined up.
Goal for this week Get the polish on 2-4 chaps. I practically rewrite when I go back through the manuscript. I analyze every paragraph to see if I couldn't be better, depending on the quality of the initial story in these chapters, It could take no time at all or quite some time.
Swapping info No need for me at this time. I'd probably best be able to help others out with technical aspects for specific exerpts. But right now, I'm seeing other stories and I don't want any others to get inbetween myself and the plots, I'm too involved, but if you have needs, I always enjoy looking at things because I find I learn a lot from the look. So send things on, if you don't have anyone else.
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IB, tell your articulate wife that I hope she heals fast and well. No more cellar stairs until she's at full power. Sheesh!
Now I put on my cheerleading pom poms:
Yea for the collaboration goal and pages written! Yea for Deb. Hoping Unwritten will have that brilliant idea somewhat soon. BC, I hope you're feeling better. Mrs Brown hope all the Browns are better, the hubbys off the @#%#$% RPG (or at least stops insisting you spend "quality time" with him by playing it) and the headaces are better. Congrats for the rough edits, Reagansgame.
Last week's goals - Finished kidnapping scene and did the intro. Completed. Being sick and having nothing on 500 chanels of TV was a huge help
This week's goals-
Finish the transition scene. Write the new scene and the inn and Falcon's return to battle. Try to have more description/narrative and not all dialog.
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I had that brilliant idea. Thanks for the inspiration particles, BC, and for the cheering kings_falcon. It got me through right to the end of the outline, but now I'm stalled out again (sorry IB--you've got to read about it here too!) It's supposed to be the second book in a trilogy, and I can't find a place where it all settles down and feels like "The End"
I love doing this outlining thing. I remember having the same problem at the end of my first story, but unfortunately I was 115,000 words into it by then. I think I rewrote that ending three times before I liked it at all. Hopefully all of this advanced thinking will eliminate that.
I hope things are going smoothly for you all. Melanie
quote: (sorry IB--you've got to read about it here too!)
Meh. It's nothing.
The great thing about outlines is you can rework them as much as you want and no one need know. (Unless you keep telling us )
One method you might consider is starting the outline from the end you want and loosely filling in the gaps between it and the beginning, until you have something you like enough to expand upon.
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I finished my goal from last week and then gave myself a break, or more specifically I picked up a book that had been sitting on my shelf and started reading. I just finished it but nothing has progressed since then. My goal this week is to have specific details for the next chapter and start it.
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I have good news and bad news. Bad news is I STILL haven't managed to finish the chapter, but the good news is this is the most I've written in a week for a year, I feel really good about the novel now and know exactly where I'm heading. I can't remember the last time I had that feeling, so although I missed my goal, I'm happy with my progress.
New Goal: yep, that's right... finish the chapter! This is my last week until university so I need to make the most of the time I have left. If I can get a couple of evenings to just sit down and focus then I'll do it. Only a few pages now.
Chapter Swapping: I could use readers for my new chapter when it's done, so next week, hopefully - if I'm back online by then!
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Okay, time to get myself back on the bandwagon, even if I have to lasso it and get dragged behind it.
I've gotten some inspiration for my story--sadly, for a chapter that doesn't happen for a good many pages. I felt ready to write last night, then had a plumbing accident that needed my attention. Wasn't that included in one of the laws for writers that we compiled?
Okay, so this week, again, finish that darn chapter. Was it chapter 5? And do snowflake for my other novel.
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I'm suffering from procrastinationitis. Anyone else familiar with the disease? I come down with it the worst when I have loads and loads to do. Just started a new job a few weeks ago and my first big thing is this week so I'm justifying any non-writing, non-work, non-prep-for-this-weekend's-7-yr-old-bday-party as "just checking email, checking the boards." Should I mention that my spices are all indexed according to size with a secondary alphabetic key? (kidding about the last part, but I tell you, procrastinationitis is not something to screw around with!)
I hope to recover once my big thing for work is done on Thursday (you know, just in time for the kids to have a four-day weekend!) But I'm afraid the condition might be somewhat permanent. Considering (not joking) creating a "writing" workstation that is not connected to the internet. I wrote almost my whole 55k nano novel last year (the one I'm supposed to be editing right now, LOL) on a palm pilot with a folding keyboard. Time to dust that puppy off. No internet. No distractions.
Meanwhile - congrats to everyone for making progress on their goals. It's all quite impressive and motivating to me. Really. Except there's this app I've been meaning to check out on my computer and I have one last blog post to read....
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As a graduate student, I have become advanced in the art of procrastnation. I'm bad about checking my email (and the boards, har) during writing, but I'm worse when I'm trying to work on my thesis.
My spices aren't alphabetized, but my books and CDs are. My closet is color-coordinated. (and yet I'm a messy person. Go figure).
In good news, I passed the 10,000 word mark in my novel tonight. Not bad for a novel that was made up of one and a half chapters when this group started!
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I am sadly adept at procrastination. I think I'm getting better, but I'm still perfectly capable of ignoring everything I'm supposed to do for entire evenings at a time.
BoredCrow, I'll see your colour-coordinated closet and raise you bookshelves organised library-style (by genre, author and publication date)...
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Just started a new job a few weeks ago and my first big thing is this week so I'm justifying any non-writing, non-work, non-prep-for-this-weekend's-7-yr-old-bday-party as "just checking email, checking the boards." Should I mention that my spices are all indexed according to size with a secondary alphabetic key? (kidding about the last part, but I tell you, procrastinationitis is not something to screw around with!)
