Boy did this week go by fast. It did not seem to have much time for writing. I know a lot of us have that problem. Others have the time but find other things they need to do with that time, and then there are those of us who write regularly, keeping up with goals, producing SOMETHING. The purpose of this note is to eventually get all of us into the regular writing camp, flooding the publishers with quality work everybody wants to read. In this note, quality is not addressed. It is simply to help us all write and regularly. How much to write is not as important as making the attempt. Word counts can be a good guide, but there are times where it is a bad measure of one's work. I have had editing sessions where I ended up within a few dozen words of what I started. I have also had writing sessions where I fought tooth and nail with a scene and had little to show for it. The act of opening the work is the most important thing.
I give a long list of things that can be writing. Time constraints today limits my post tonight. If you have to ask if is writing, the answer is yes.
On the writing front, I only got 1400 words in my Waxy story. I have had some long days, working extra hours (will look good on the paycheck) and extra hours on my weekend projects so I have not had the time to write I really wanted to. I also fought with a scene a bit and had to get my mind off original mind set and get into the swing of the new emphasis on the story. It is now looks like it is falling together.
On the story idea front, I have 48 ideas in my compost pile. I had a couple days where the ideas flowed fast. Several of the new ideas are exciting and deserve more effort to develop them than I am placing in them. Time constraints have priority.
This weekend I did a project I am really proud of. I have a small machining lathe. I can make cuts across a piece, or along the piece, but angles are not possible for anything that is long. Over the past week, I designed a new tool that would give me the ability to cut on angles. I tried different designs and finally came up with something that might work well. This weekend, I spent an eight hour day making a mock-up of the part in wood to prove the design. With some modifications, my design will work fine. I now need to get some metal of the right size and then machine the metal into the actual part. It was a learning experience I am proud of. I had a lot of planning, figuring and adjustments to do before I ever made my first cut. I am excited about giving something like this another try. I have found another hobby and I might even be good at it!!!
Using the above for a story idea, He is an old style machinist. His machines are belt driven and he has to make his own tools. His planet has to be abandoned so he ends up on a space station. He is given a job at a tool making company. He is shown the machines he has to work with. Because the metals are so hard and impervious, they use a constant beam of a laser to do the work. There is no turning the beams off, one simply has to make the cuts the vest one can. He is left to figure out how to do his work. he tests a tiny piece of the metal and sees it takes some time to cut. He then takes a cheap piece of metal, part of a packing case and finds it cuts easily. He looks over some of the tools and cannot find a way to hold the parts he wants to work with. He picks a block of cheap metal and works out how he wants it designed. He then carefully works the part in the beam until he gets the part shaped. Since he cannot drill, he cuts in a thin slot and then cuts around until he has his hole. He cuts slots in other places, rocking the piece carefully to sweep away metal that needs to be removed. He then shows off his part to see what others think. They are impressed with his imagination and skills. He is instantly placed as a permanent worker rather than a temporary worker.
As to the question of the week,
I can honestly say,
YES I DID WRITE
DID YOU WRITE?
Posted by genevive42 (Member # 8714) on :
I wrote on my latest WotF story and my novel. Plenty of words. I just don't know if they're any good.
Posted by Meredith (Member # 8368) on :
Yes, I did. I finally finished the revision to BLOOD WILL TELL I've been working on all month! Woo Hoo! Now I can start the second draft of SEVEN STARS.
Also, two blog posts, a new version of the query for MAGE STORM, and a handful of crits.
Posted by Wordcaster (Member # 9183) on :
Not a lot. Sick family+sick me=not waking up early to write.
I finished a chapter of my book and updated the blog.
Posted by JenniferHicks (Member # 8201) on :
It was a semi-productive week for me. I wrote about 4,000 words (yeah!) but ended up dumping half of them (boo!).
Posted by tchernabyelo (Member # 2651) on :
Yep, I wrote. 5k of notes and scenes on a new novel.
Posted by Tiergan (Member # 7852) on :
Finally! yeah, it has been a while, a little each week, but I have finally gotten out of my funk and moving on.
Posted by Heresy (Member # 1629) on :
A little, yes. It's my first week of not hitting my goal. Only 2.3k instead of the 6k that was the goal. But it is still writing. Hopefully next week will be better, but I have some doubts. I've got a lot of crap going on in my life and so I'm not writing with my head entirely in the game Hopefully it'll all clear up in the next few weeks or so and I'll be able to get back to writing as I had been doing.
-Julie T.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Complete washout...nothing, not even revisions.
Like I said, it's getting close to my vacation time, where I leave my computer behind when I get away from it all...but, before then, before I leave, I hope to at least start some more revisions...
Posted by akeenedesign (Member # 7816) on :
Yes! Tackled a good chunk of my novel last Tuesday. $4 martini night at my favorite writing place hasn't been hurting my progress!
And, as always, so many words written for Yahoo Answers. Seriously love answering.
Posted by Grayhog (Member # 9446) on :
It's easy to feel inadequate on this thread, but here goes. I'm still revising and have worked a couple chapters this week, adding much needed narrative to spare screenplay like scenes.
On the pure wordcount front, I journaled 800+ words. Does that count? I spend the bulk of time in revising and for me that's the real work right now. At my pace, I'm hoping to finish by summer, and that's optimistic.
Posted by pdblake (Member # 9218) on :
On holiday at the moment so not a lot of writing getting done. Just a few hundred words.
Posted by BenM (Member # 8329) on :
Got to The End on the first draft of my latest novel; turned out to be a little over 130K words. As usual, I think it's garbage and there's going to be a great many hours spent getting it ready for first readers. Not much writing planned over the next week or so - the family are all sick and I'm desperately trying to avoid coming down with it prior to my flight to the WotF workshop, so lots of sleep is the order of the day now.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Finally getting to this when it's almost time to do next week.
I worked on all three WIPs. Made some progress but not as much as I should have.
Working on a short story but I decided to redo the opening some so I am redoing all I have written so far, it was quite what I wanted. The opening still isn't but it's closer.Ê
Did some crits, redid one after a huge mistake I made by not paying attention to which E-mail I was reading...a bunch have the same title.
A bunch of posts on the walls of the treehouse.. . I think I need to take a break though form it or most of it. I did that a few weeks ago but got back into it before I was ready.
A couple of E-mails.
Posted by Crank (Member # 7354) on :
Yikes! I was so busy writing I forgot about this thread!
I created approximately 3K new words, did some hardcore editing, made a few important decisions concerning my new YA series, and did a small bit of research for future projects. I even added a new Bloggathah entry (it's not writing-related, but ice hockey fans might enjoy it).
S! S!
Posted by Natej11 (Member # 8547) on :
In the process of sending out queries and submissions. Blech, and I thought editing was a pain :/.
Almost done though, just need to see about the stupid black ink cartridge in the printer.
Posted by pixydust (Member # 2311) on :
I did! I got 8k on a novella and finished edits! It's off to critters, getting ready for round two of edits... Posted by JohnColgrove (Member # 9236) on :
I wrote a little under 2k words in the last couple days. That's an all time high for me
. I think I need to take a break though form it or most of it. I did that a few weeks ago but got back into it before I was ready.