Here is a list of things that you can do each week as we work on our novels (suggestions welcomed).
=-=-=-=-=
I did not have a good week this week at all. We had so many lightning storms. I did not want to risk having the computer on with all of the storms this week. As such I was only able to get one scene written (on Saturday). This was mostly a "transition" chapter anyway so I did not have much outlined for it yet. I only have one planned scene to write so I may be able to get that done including the upcoming week's goal. I have some sizable scenes for the next chapter so I'll see if I can get those done. I bought a laptop so that will help should we have more storms in my area.
Due to the storms I was at least able to finish Brandon Sanderson's Warbreaker. That will no longer be a distraction come this next week.
My goals for next week:
I can only hope this next week will be better for me.
--William
It was stormy here too, though I did work a lot on CtD. I found out I was missing an element, and also that I had to strengthen one of my charactors motivation, so that's been really fun.
I came up with a cool(IMO) short story idea, which I am ploting out right now. That might distract me from novelland for this week. We'll see though.
Goals for this week. Strengthen the middle arch of CtD.
~Sheena
The novel has been completed. I've not been able to come up with an agent query letter and synopsis that I like, so I made up for it by researching potential agents. Progress, in any form, is still progress.
Current: My supposed "main project" is still on hold.
Goal: At the very least, I want to finish at least one scene.
I thought about one of the scenes during my commute the other day. Does that count?
Current: I have two science fiction novels and one mainstream novel that are currently on hold.
Goal: One of those three novels is regaining its active status this coming week.
And the winner is: one of my SF novels! At least, that's my choice for the moment.
UPCOMING WEEK
Current: Working on the agent cover letter and synopsis for "Metzgerhund Empire"
Goal: Submit my proposal to at least one agent. More is better.
Current: Resuming work on my SF novel
Goal: The trick here is that the later chapters heavily involved a theoretical physics concept that I'm still learning about. The smart move at this point would be to put the manuscript away for a while and continue my studies, so that's what I am going to do.
Current: Resume work on my "main project"
Goal: I just recently came up with an enhanced idea for this project, so I'm expecting to complete a good chunk of it within the next week.
S!
S!
Edited because dyslexics really shouldn't be allowed to use UBB tags.
[This message has been edited by Crank (edited June 19, 2009).]
Last week's goals:
Do two of the critiques I had signed up for. I actually did four critiques and I'm working on a fifth. It's either feast or famine. For a while there wasn't anything that I felt I could critique productively, then all of a sudden I had six in my inbox. I'm down to three, now.
Continue world building for Dreamer's Rose.
I haven't so much worked on world building. I did do a little writing on the beginning of the story and some outlining for complications and motivations of secondary characters later on.
Keep the writing muscles flexed by working on another short story, The Spirit of the Lion, which is partly based on a chapter from Book One.
I did this and put it up in Fragments and Feedback.
As before, find, research, and submit my query for Book One to five more agents.
This one I only half did. I've got a list of six more agents partially researched. But I've decided not to send out any queries this week. Instead, I'm going to go back and work on the query letter and synopsis again. They're obviously not doing their job. I'm up to six rejections, with eight still outstanding.
So much for last week. This week's goals:
Continue work on Dreamer's Rose. Book Three has started to pull at me, but I'm resisting. I need to make some big changes there and letting it boil for a while will help. The problem is I haven't really gotten back into Dreamer's Rose. I need to submerge myself in that for a while. I'll probably get into it faster if I let myself into the story. Then, once it's the object of my imagination 24/7, the world-building will come. The first few chapters take place in a small area, anyway. I don't need to know what's happening in the rest of the world for a little while.
Work on the synopsis and query letter for Book One. I know these can be improved.
The short story, Dragons Are Forever, is about as ready as it's going to be. So, I need to send it out, too. After I tweak a couple of small things. Since it reads YA, there aren't as many markets to send it to. But, if I never try . . .
And I'm still open to another chapter exchange on Book Two, if anybody is interested.
last week's goals: I don't think I actually made any goals last week, although I might be mistaken
I did manage to combine two minor characters into one slightly less minor character that is a lot more interesting. The up side of this is that both of the original characters were based on actual people I used to know, and the new character is no longer so obviously recognizable. I've never done that before, and it bothered me much more than I thought it would. Note to self: don't try that again.
this week's goals: I'm going to really push myself here--finish the outline of the story from the villain's pov. I don't plan on doing a ton of writing this summer, because I need silence for that, but I want to have so many things outlined that the day the kids go back to school I hit the ground running.
Goal for next week: Do better.
I don't know how to post in bold, or italics.
Yes, I am that lame.
Writing, and liking it!
~Sheena
quote:
I don't know how to post in bold, or italics.
To create bold text, surround the text with [ b ] and [ /b ] (without the spaces).
To create italic text, surround the text with [ i ] and [ /i ] (without the spaces).
I think you can also "edit" my post (the pencil icon) to see the text and how I did it here.
EDIT: minor changes.
[This message has been edited by WBSchmidt (edited June 19, 2009).]
quote:
*HTML is OFF
*UBB Code is ON
[IMG] UBB Code Not Allowed!
If you click on *UBB Code is ON it will take you to a cool link that will show you how to do all sorts of neat stuff.
Melanie
I am now officially freaking awesome.
Thank you for helping and not pointing and laughing.
At least where I could hear it.
Off to check if it works.
~Sheena
woot!
[This message has been edited by shimiqua (edited June 19, 2009).]
I'm working on this. I have until Monday.
Goals for next week:
This week's goals are pretty much the same:
1) Continue word-smithing for the summer job
2) Remember to report back in next Friday
This week's goal, write one chapter.
* What were your goals last week and did you accomplish them?
5 chapters were supposed to get through first edit. 3 out of 5 ain't bad considering that I also had to knock my way through a brick wall (real, physical brick wall) of the house to replace a hose faucet, then repair the wall.
I also wanted to keep up with crits and managed to do so.
* Describe what you worked on.
The first edit amounts to changing tense and dividing chapters at better places. That's a fairly mechanical process and far more work is needed.
* Set goals for next week.
A deeper re-work of chapter 1 is in order. See below.
The prologue will get attention, too.
* Did you learn something during this week?
According to the responses in F&F for Novels, my opening is a hook-free environment.
Setting goals can be difficult sometimes I know. I'm using trial and error to determine how much I can get done during a week. Currently I try to write one chapter each week. So far I've had decent luck with that (except for last week because of the storms here).
I've found that I can write an average of 750 words or so in the time I have set aside for writing, which I use to do one scene. Sometimes the scene is longer. This allows me to write three or four rough draft scenes per week depending upon what else in life I've got going. Together this ends up to be a decent rough start for a chapter.
If you have a specific time each day that you have set aside to write then setting goals becomes easier. You use that time to determine how much you can write in a single sitting. Once you know that you can better determine what you can accomplish each week. I have found, for me, that after some consistent writing the amount I get done increases because it does get easier. The more you practice the easier it is.
Another thing that I do is I take one day and plan out what I want to write for that week. For me this is Friday because it is the only day I can stay up as late as I want without worrying about getting up early the next day. So, on Friday, I dig deep and thoroughly outline the scenes for that week. That makes it so much easier to write because the "hard work" has already been done. I take care of the Writer's Block beforehand. This may not work for everyone but so far it helps me.
This week:
-Just finished chapter 12 edits; get chapter 13 revised and out for critiques.
-get my flash piece ready for submission
-once final crits return for TDT and Marbles, get those pieces revised and out for submission
goals I didn't do any of them since I was on a staycation. My sister was in town from Michigan and I took off work and was vacation, but I didn't go anywhere. This week I will do much better though.
-Start Chapter two of TG, and do more character development since I didn't do it last week.
-Edit Chapter three of SS
-Actually mail my WotF entry
[This message has been edited by satate (edited June 21, 2009).]
Thanks for the encouragement and advice. I am new at setting writing goals, and I really haven't been paying any attention to how long it takes me to write a chapter. I especially like the idea of outlining the scenes each week. I will definately have to try that.
quote:
Of all the socks being worn by the whole blasted procession, mine were the only ones that were soaked.
Anyway, the long and short of it is I didn’t do anything I had planned. I’ve been thinking a lot about novel structure. I’m not sure what to do at this point. I see that my book doesn’t follow the traditional three-act structure. But I’m not sure how much that matters. I’ve previously just intuited these things. What have others encountered? Do you consciously think about structure or do you use instinct to just let it happen?
Goals for next week: Think about the three act structure and decide how it will work for each character. Think about three act structure for my other novels. I still want to do a plot analysis of The Secret History.