posted
Sorry I'm late. This cold's been kicking my @$$.
Well, I've dabbled with the outline I intended to, dug well into Chapter 5, subbed out two stories (and have a friend help me clean up a third to go out this week) and had a beta reader (one who doesn't read often) tear through the hundred and sixty odd pages I had in one sitting. I took that as a good sign.
Overall, I'm happy with my progress.
Goals for this week: 1) Get better. 2) Finish Chapter Five (with the explosive ending I have planned bwahahaha) and make the leap to Part Two. 3) Expand the outlining I began. 4) Get another story out to market. (Maybe two.)
posted
I have just about kick my cold, at least I think I have. It always seems to fight its way back into my system (maybe I need to lysol my truck). Oh, you mean novels. The only novel that I worked has two years of dust on the cover. I decided to stick to one get better. and my second part of my plan sell enough short stories to impress potential agents. Who knew that it takes so long.
Posts: 3072 | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
I failed this week. I didn't get my chapter finished but I put in a lot of good work on it yesterday. I'm hopeful though, because I finished the books that were keeping me from getting anything done. So now I'm looking forward to several good weeks of work.
Next Goal - is finish the next chapter, and start the next.
Oh, and I hope you get better IB.
[This message has been edited by satate (edited October 19, 2008).]
posted
Oh, satate, don't say failed. One of my favorite quotes is from Robert Browning: “Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?” (and that applies to women, too)
If we set goals for ourselves that we are always reaching, then we really aren't challenging ourselves.
Another quote goes something like, "Aim for the moon. Even if you don't hit it, you might hit a star." (and, yeah, the cosmology is a bit off, but it's the thought that counts)
I didn't get a whole lot done this past week. My two important chapters were, not surprisingly, difficult to write. And Part 2 is a lot different from Part 1, so I'm still working on finding the right tone for it and figuring out all the detais. It goes slowly, but it still goes.
My goals for this week are: keep working on the outline for the second part, keep tooling with chapters from part one, and try writing Chapter 7. Oh, and keep revising my WOTF entry.
That's a large range of things to do, but I don't expect to get all of them done. Just a little bit in one area will be fine for me.
Oh, and is anyone ready for another chapter of mine? I only got feedback for Chapter 3 from IB. And I haven't gotten anything from anyone for a while... so if someone has something they'd like feedback on, just send it!
posted
Bored Crow, you can send your chapters to me if you'd like. Well, this week was a wash, except that it created a lot of angst for me to pour into the short story I'm working on. Always a silver lining, right?
Goals for this week: Finish the short story and finish a few critiques, including Bored Crow's...if she's interested.
[This message has been edited by Unwritten (edited October 19, 2008).]
posted
No worries, I don't really think I failed. I was just being overly dramatic. Bored Crow, I still have you're chapter two. I got a little behind on crits but I'm going to get to it this week. Reading books always does this to me. I get so absorbed that even my house work suffers. So now it's catch up time. My chapter is coming along good and I'm getting some good ideas about what to do with the plot. I just may exceed my goal for this week, we shall see.
Posts: 968 | Registered: Jul 2008
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posted
Oooh, colds. Here’s a quick prayer that you’ll get better soon…
* short pause for prayer *
Some days an idea has me all excited and hopeful. Other days I feel like an on-going failure because my goals are so wimpy, and I still don’t meet them (of course they've been vague enough that there’s no meaningful measure). Then I remind myself, this is a hobby. I’m an amateur wannabe, and that’s okay for today. Focus on the journey. And some days I’m too tired to care
I started searching on character names in my 38K-word outline/mess, to pull out a character’s story arc for the Snowflake method (completed Pua, a minor character). Moved some random ideas into correct sub-sections of the outline, and chunked some stuff into the scrap-file.
David Wolverton's latest “Kick” made me think it may be okay to keep some of the complexity (and character count) that I had been thinking of trashing.
Measurable Goals: Break the outline of the story's middle into sensible headings, and sort random subsections into them. Merge multiple attempts to summarize the plot (in outline) with the Snowflake summaries. Search for Cael and develop his story arc; decide whether or not to keep him.
Before someone says quit outlining and start writing: it doesn't feel like procrastination to me. I'm not at all worried about the prose (I trust myself to be able to wordsmith/expand scenes into prose later). The Story is my concern. My goal is the Snowflake idea of listing every scene in order. If anyone has gone down this road and found it not helpful, please chime in!
Sorry, no critique availability.
[This message has been edited by MrsBrown (edited October 20, 2008).]
posted
MrsBrown - I don't think anyone here is going to criticize you for just working on an outline; that sounds like progress to me! (especially since it's one of my goals for this week and was in many past weeks here )
Oh, and Unwritten... one of the fun things about being a writer is that even when I'm at my most depressed and tragic, there's some small part of me thinking 'I wonder how I can fit these dark thoughts into a story...' (thanks for the offer to read, btw!)
[This message has been edited by BoredCrow (edited October 20, 2008).]
1)Decided if I'm really going to do NaNo with everything else that's up in the air for me. Hopefully the husband's capital murder case (humm, that sounds wrong. Let's try that again . . . his client's capital murder case - yes, that's it. Only the client goes to jail not the attorney. Although, he's annoying the judge enough, I've had to replenish the contempt fund. ) will get continued and I won't be single parenting in November and December (3 week trial). If there's a continuance, which is likely given everything going on with that case and the other 5 co-defendants, there's a good chance I'll do NaNo. Although I may do "Hawks and Doves" and not "Dead"
2) Look at the revised outline from a joint writing project and get back to my co-author.
3) Finish the transition scenes in Falcon and get back to the big battle. If I can just get past this @@#%# hump, the rest should flow pretty easily, but this section is fighting me. The character liked the other version better. So all I'm getting is the dialog and not any of the narrative. Sigh.
4)Get "Lightning Strikes" and "Kalyso's Song" back in the publication rounds.
[This message has been edited by kings_falcon (edited October 20, 2008).]
my enthusiasm for writing always coincides with my enthusiasm for life. some stuff happened recently that rocked that enthusiasm all outta whack. if i were writing a happy-go-lucky bunch, it might be better, but I'm not. the character i'm writing is apathetic and beaten down depressed like and then this thing happened and now her character is too real to write right now. I'm ducking out until one won't rub off on the other so much. I'm blogging and reading. prolly take about a week or so until i can get back in it.
no goals until then. but i'm looking forward to getting back at it. and i haven't jumped ship.
posted
Moved, and supposed to be back online at home by end of the day today. have 110 pages of novelette for Doghorn Press and have started negotiations with illustrator. If I owe you a read, give me a bump on my email, and I'll get right to it. PROMISE!
Bored Crow, I'll get to you tonight, no matter what. I know I owe you and IAB.
[This message has been edited by debhoag (edited October 22, 2008).]
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Me either.
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