• Actual writing on a novel
• Characterization
• World Building
• Valid research
  

Here are some of the things that I will report on. Feel free to do the same. I can add to this list as well over time.

• Did you accomplish last week's goals?
• Describe what you worked on.
• Goals for next week.
  

I was able to get a decent start on the characterization for my main character and the supporting role character. I now have a better understanding of their relationship and the interactions I will have played out in the novel. However, I still feel that I have a long way to go. I think there are some untapped feelings / conflicts that I can bring out still.

I also worked some more on the general outline and have a good feeling for the events up through the midpoint of the novel. After that point I only have vague ideas on what I want to do. I know the ending already and some of the things that I need to do but I still need to determine what I want to add between Point A and Point B.

My goals for next week will be to feel that I have a complete characterization for the main character and the supporting role character. In addition, I want to begin working on the antagonist character that I have throughout the book. I have an idea about him that I came up with this week also and this preliminary characterization makes sense for what is going on in the story. I want to explore those aspects further.

So, I guess I made progress in my last week goals but not as much as I would have liked. I hope to do better next week.

I have some unique ideas for KJA's map.

I have presented two problems for my protagonist (and he's going to be in deep poo very shortly).

I'm still letting SS sit. I have a hard time writing more than one thing at a time. I've promised myself that I will begin its final work through after WotF is finished. I'm ready to have this story finished and move onto something else.

My next novel, TG, is still in the world building/character/plot development phase. I really just have a basic outline for it. I know where it starts and ends and one or two things that happen but I don't know enough to start writing.

My goals for this week:

Primary goal - rework WotF entry as much as I can. Try to get at least two more pages worked through.

I haven't completely finished working on the synopsis, but I hope to wrap it up this weekend.

I've also made a few more revisions to Book One--and I have some more to go.

And I did work on Book Two. I'm up to Chapter Four. (Which used to be Chapter Five until I axed the old Chapter Four.)

Goals for next week:

Finish the synopsis and one more pass through the first four chapters. I want to send that out on Monday. I can continue working on revisions of the rest of Book One while I wait to hear back.

Continue working on Book Two. With what I have outlined, and the stuff I can keep from the previous drafts, I'd like to get to Chapter Seven on that.

And I still need to do some world-building for Dreamer's Rose.

@Satate--I'm with you. Sometimes the characters don't tell me who they really are until I let them out to play a little.

First question, does the T stand for the? Second question, what genre?

This week I had fun with Dragon Fate. Instead of arguing my way through the grammer, I inserted humorous explitives.

For example, Joi now says "Holy sheep's breath!" a few times. And instead of the saying "the whole lot were fools", she calls them "politicing sheep speakers". Don't really know what that means, but fun anyway. )

I've also figured out that I am going to have to completely rewrite chapter one. On the plus side, I've figured out how to do it. It might end up taking two chapters, but at least I have a goal.

Meanwhile, I started reading Patricia Highsmith's Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction. I identified with this:

quote:

---

But there are several things that can cause a feeling of being "idea-less." One is physical and mental fatigue; because of pressures, some people are unable to remedy this very easily, even though they know how to and would if they could...
Another cause of this lack of ideas is the wrong kind of people around a writer, or sometimes people of any sort. ...mostly, the plane of social intercourse is not the plane of creation, not the plane on which creative ideas fly. It is difficult to be aware of, or receptive to, one's own unconscious when one is with a group of people, or even with a single person,...

---

It's fantasy and set in modern times.

Polish Chapter two

OR

Finish chapter number... whichever I'm on. I don't number the chapters in this book. It's Kurren's chapter though. So yeah. Finish writing Kurren's chapter.

I'm finding that actual writing is coming hard for me since I stopped. Note to self: Once I actually start writing again, DON'T STOP. Even if it's just half a page a day. It's like riding a bicycle up a hill.

My goal this week: Half a page of actual writing every day.
Melanie

edited to say: Man, I just can't shut up about my villain, can I? Sorry for those of you who are overdosing on my villain, quest etc. conundrums. I'm enthusiastic.

Revised Goals:

Research. I'm going to hit the bookstore this afternoon and, if I have time, the library to look at Publishers Market Place. If not, I'll go to the library on Wednesday. Tomorrow is impossible.

I've fininshed, I think, my revisions on the first four chapters (approximately 40 pages). So any portion of the beginning that I need for a query should be ready.

I still need to polish up the synopsis/outline. And I also need to do the much more difficult task of writing a couple of shorter versions--one about half the length and one that could fit in a query letter. Look for the latter to show up in the Fragments and Feedback section today or tomorrow, hopefully.

I have done some work on Book Two and will continue on that. It's more fun than the synopses, so I'll have to force myself to put some time on them, too.

New Goal: Send out at least a couple of agent queries by Friday. It's time to get this ball rolling and see what happens.

Edited to add: I forgot. Somewhere in there I have to get back to making revisions on my currently untitled short story (formerly All Rocks go to Heaven).

Other than that, I haven't got a thing to do.

Oh, and being a glutton for punishment, I'm out of critiques at the moment. Book Two is just about ready to start a chapter exchange. Any body want to trade chapters?

I paused my main project just long enough to touch up a short story that was recently rejected. The editor made a point that was never mentioned before, and I (mostly) agreed with it. It'll be back in the mail within the next day or so.

My main project has hit a snag, but the new ideas have not stopped flowing, so no biggie.

Not much else to report. I blame the NHL playoffs for distracting me. And, as always, I blame my kids, too.

S!
S!...C!

The Greek
The Geek,
and The Gecko.

• The Gummyworms
• The Gumbo
• The Glyph
• The Guillotine
• The Garrote
• The Geyser
• The Giver
• The Gnome
• The Gymnasium
• The Gryphon
• The Gynecologist
• The Ghost
• The Ghoul
• The Goblin
• The Grandmaster
• The Genie
• The Gremlin
• The Glistening
• The Glitter
• The Guitar
• The Gravy
• The Girl
• The Giraffe
• The Gorilla
• The Germ
• The German
• The Gun
• The Glade
• The Grenade
• The Gist
• The Gauntlet
• The Granola
• The Gross
• The Green
• The Gas
• The Grimoire
• The Gimp
• The Gadget
• The Garden
• The Gardener
• The Gag
• The Ghandi
• The Guardian
• The Grifter
• The Gravedigger
• The Greaser
• The Gamble
• The Gate
• The Gateway
• The Guild
  

satate, no, I was just playing with the G-words I could think of.