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Did You Write? 01-24-10 . Another week has passed, and this is the last Monday of the month of January. Those of you who have written something every week this month, will have done your resolutions proud. For the rest of us, I hope this note got you to write something, sometime during the month, so you could proclaim that you wrote. Hopefully, this next month, you will be able to write each an every week, not just once during the month. The desire is to create a habit in your writing. Writing once a week is a good way to start, and this note, and the public announcement of your accomplishment, or failures, is a good prompt to get to write. It works for me, especially this week. What one calls WRITING, is up to interpretation once one gets past ANY NEW WORDS. We are not picky, and we are not judgmental. Just getting words onto paper makes a big difference, even if it is not a story. Because we don't all create perfect works first try, let alone fifth or tenth try, Editing is writing. It is even writing if you are editing someone else's work. Critiquing someone's work is on part with editing so that also counts as writing. Poetry, Blogging, article writing, writing assignemnts, world or character building, are also writing. Even E-mails an be writing, if they are discussing story or writing, and are wordy. If there is something else you wonder is writing, the answer is yes. The beauty is that there is no word limit either. The more, the better. If you write the RIGHT word, then you have accomplished something. You have written.
I settled down to write this note, and checked to see what I worked on. I viewed the directory in DETAILS and sorted them according to date. I had not written at all this week. The last time I wrote was on the 18th, just before I posted last week's note. I opened one of the incompete stories I have, and started reading. I changed a word there, flipped a sentance there, changed the ipression in another spot. I got to where I stopped and the keyboard took over and I finished the scene I stopped at and then attacked another scene. I did not finish it, but I got a bit farther than I was. It felt good. When I was done, I only added 231 words, but I broke through a block on this story. I can write a bit more and get farther into the story.
The past two weeks, I had been stuck on coming up with new story ideas. I was forced to dig into some of the pieces deeper into the compost pile. They tend to stink, but they were something to post. The ideas broke free this week and I was getting more ideas than I have posted. I love that. What is more, most all the ideas I have gotten are worth posting. I would love if that was the norm. I want to post the five ideas on top the stack. Beyond that, not so much. Because I have gotten new ideas, I am back up to 40 notes in the compost pile. One advantage of the clueless times, is that I get rid of second rate ideas, so I don't have to deal with them. The problem is that what is left, are third and forth rate ideas. They are harder to work with. I should note that there is some five ideas in the stack that are very good, but require more effort to write up, because they are more complex, than I tend to want to expand energies on.
In woodworking, I got very little done this week, but got a step farther on several projects. It is the kind of weekend where if you get several strung together, you end up with a bunch of finished projects without realizing that you accomplished anything. I have tried to make some duckling napkin holders. I kept failing on getting the design right for what I was after. this weekend, as one of the last attempts, I finally got the design right, then figured out that I could not finish it due to geometry problems because of tools and equipment. I have to work with second rate designs They will be good enough. I had made duckling heads for the bowls, but I decided they need to be bigger. Even so, they look pretty good. With a little bigger heads, they will be quite acceptable.
As a story idea, he can live forever as long as he is not actually killed. he chose to work in safe jobs, not get into any danger, so he can live forever. He had lead several uprisings and has tried twice to gain control over the system by more peaceful means. They know him for what he is, so he is not allowed near any control position. He can work to the best of his ability, but he always has others in command over him, and his leaders always go through corporate training. As a worker, he does many different jobs. One is that because of his experience, he trains the new workers. It is rare for anybody to not go through his training at one time or another. Because he cannot directly take control, he decides to work with patience. He works on very little changes, really a slow change in the personality of the company and the way the company works. It is easy since nearly every one goes through him. He just plants the idea in each person and that idea slowly rises to the top, becoming normal, so he can make a slightly bigger change. The time comes where there The system trips due to something outside it. At that moment, his motion in the way the company works, suddenly comes into play. It is a sudden cascade of decisions and actions that force them to bring him into the leadership. He knows so much about the system. the next thing they know, he is in absolute control over the system, their master and he is in place for life. since he lives forever, He is not going away. he continues to train the new people, but this time, no one can tell him how not to train them.
As to the question of the day, I can honestly say,
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Yes, I did. I deleted 2000 words (a whole chapter) from THE SHAMAN'S CURSE. Well, that counts. It's editing. And it's what the story needs. I have another 2000 word chapter I'm thinking about. It was always my least favorite chapter. But I do need a couple of the things it sets up for later in the story. If I can come up with another way to establish them, this chapter is history.
Also revisions on BLOOD WILL TELL, THE IGNORED PROPECY, and "Mage Storm".
I wrote several scraps of ideas/scenes for the possible sequel to BLOOD WILL TELL
And I wrote 1500 words for the Characters challenge.
Edited to add: I did! I found a way to cut that horrid chapter. That makes 4000 words cut fromt THE SHAMAN'S CURSE. I never liked that chapter. Good riddance.
[This message has been edited by Meredith (edited January 25, 2010).]
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Got a bit of writing here, a bit of writing there - no real add-up on any one project, but probably 1 or 2K words overall.
Posts: 715 | Registered: Nov 2007
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Yes, I worked on two short stories. I'm writing new scenes for what is possibly the seventh version of the first one, and I wrote the first draft of the second, a flash piece, on Sunday.
Posts: 1139 | Registered: May 2008
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A bit. Yet despite lots of critiquing and plotting, I seem to be behind on my month's writing goals. Well, unless I catch up in the next five days.
Posts: 921 | Registered: Nov 2008
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I managed five hundred rewritten words a day on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday; but not on Friday, Sunday, and Monday. Besides being superbusy days, thanks to thoughtful comments here and elsewhere by interested parties, I'm involved in a certain reevaluation of my work and the direction it's going in. I do plan to finish the rewrite.
Also I put up my 2009 output, two stories, on my website---you guys probably saw me talk about that elsewhere. It's not unconnected with the abovementioned reevaluation.
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I've done several crits this week, but no writing of my own. I'm feeling very de-motivated. Which would be fine, since I have a week long vacation coming up, but I really need to finish my WOTF submission. Blah.
Posts: 238 | Registered: Jul 2009
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Rewrote the first 200 words of "A Memory Lost" as after posting the first 13 for readers realised it needed some attention... again.
Posts: 20 | Registered: Oct 2009
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