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Welcome to this week's Novel Support Group (NSG). Anyone can join. If you're new, tell us a bit about who you are and what project you are working on. Although we can report on any number of things, here is a list of suggestions (suggestions welcomed).
What were your goals last week and did you accomplish them?
Describe what you worked on.
Set goals for next week.
Did you learn something during this week?
Here is a list of things that you can do each week as we work on our novels (suggestions welcomed).
Writing on a novel
Characterization
World Building
Relevant research
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Last Week's Goals
I had quite a good week. Although I did not finish both chapter 7 and 8, I did get a great deal more writing done than previous weeks combined. I have a couple more scenes to write in chapter 8 (and an optional scene) so I may focus on that instead of chapter 9.
The second goal I had, analyzing my goals, did not get touched. First, I totally forgot about that goal. Second, even if I had remembered the writing was going so well that I may have felt a chapter a week is still doable for me. For now I will set that goal aside and continue on.
My goals for next week:
Finish chapter 8
Maybe chapter 9
The final scenes of chapter 8 are not as outlined as I would like so I will focus on those for my late night Friday. After than I may take a look at chapter 9 and outline those so that I can get ahead a bit. From there I will finish the chapter 8 scenes.
What did I learn this week?
I think the biggest thing that I realized, which I think I mentioned last week, is that I must just sit down and write, but not worry about what gets written. Being a perfectionist has hindered me the last few weeks. This last week I just focused on writing and not deciding upon the best word. In fact, some sections reuse the same word over and over just so I can finish a paragraph. I made so much more progress because of that. Nothing too profound but significant for me this week.
posted
Geez, is it that time already? Thanks, William, for being so on top of the weekly check ins!
Okay, last week I had vague goals, which I did not complete, partly because I was involved in other pursuits, but mostly because I didn't prioritize writing into my daily schedule.
So, this week:
for WotW, reorganize and rewrite as necessary the first four chapters. This shouldn't be that hard. I have most of the material, I'll just need to do edits to reflect the new direction I'm going.
Decide on final emotional arc for L. What lesson does he learn? What is his ultimate challenge?
Decide how to make the above happen within the confines of the story. More specifically, plot out the last 1/3 of WotW.
Take a peek at WotF story!
Critique something. It's been way too long since I've read someone else's story.
Write something original.
What did I learn? You must make time to write. Don't wait until you have time for it or you feel like it. My book(s) lurks in the back of my mind constantly, but I have to consciously sit down and devote time to it on a daily basis.
[This message has been edited by annepin (edited July 31, 2009).]
posted
I did pretty well this week. My goals were to finish my research paper and finish the scene I was working on. I did both! Yay! Finishing that scene has brought me to the end of Chapter 11, and the end of the first section of the book. This is a huge step for me because the first section has gotten a lot of work and a lot of rewrites over the last few years, and it's nice to finally get away from it. I even started Chapter 12!
So... next week:
Finish the first scene in Ch. 12. Start the next scene.
I'll be on vacation with my family (six of us staying in one room!) so we'll see how much gets done.
posted
I didn't do as well as I would have liked last week. Other things, like cleaning house, have been interfering. But I didn't do badly, either.
Last Week's Goals: Dreamer's Rose Chapters five and six. Well, five was easy. But I've only written a paragraph on six. I know what needs to be in this chapter, but the scenes to show it just aren't in my head. I guess it's not ripe yet.
The Shaman's Curse: Send out five queries. I have sent three so far. Today's not over. I might make five this week, yet. I expect that I will at least manage four. Current stats: Seventeen sent, ten rejections. But it feels good to start sending this out again.
The Ignored Prophecy: Continue chapter exchange and revisions. Yes. Most of my writing time went here last week. And it's been well worth it.
Next Week's Goals: Dreamer's Rose: Try to get through Chapter Six. If I just can't pull that together, then at least work on it. There are revisions to Part Two (already written) that I can start. At least I would be making progress on this one. It seems to be fighting me and I won't win if I don't fight back.
I am revising this goal. This book just keeps fighting me. At some point, it is time to recognize that that means there's a problem. Either I'm starting at the wrong place (likely) or this story just isn't fully cooked and needs to go back into the incubator. So, the goal for Dreamer's Rose is to put it on the back burner and try to figure out what it needs before I try to move forward.
The Shaman's Curse: Keep sending out queries. Another five next week.
The Ignored Prophecy: Continue the chapter exchange and revisions.
What Comes After: I have recently (last night) come to the conclusion that there may be two more books after The Ignored Prophecy, not one. Continue brainstorming and outlining the plot in detail.
In place of working on Dreamer's Rose, I want to spend more time on this. I may even start sketching out a beginning. Especially since it often takes me a couple of tries to hit on the right starting point.
Revised to change the goal for Dreamer's Rose and What Comes After
[This message has been edited by Meredith (edited August 03, 2009).]
Yep. I don't know about anyone else, but these last few weeks feel like they have been flying by. Sometimes I wake up on Fridays and wonder where the week went.
Maybe I can blame this "fast time bubble" on my inability to have time to write? OK, perhaps not.
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LAST WEEK Current: Revise the "Metzgerhund Empire" synopsis, as needed. Goal: ...this goal will take as long as it takes.
...and it is. Still...working on my synopsis helped me to uncover an inconsistency / incoherency in the final few scenes. Once I make those few adjustments to the manuscript, I'll go right back to marketing it.
Current: Continue my SF studying and researching. Goal: no set word-count-based goal, just keep at it.
What have I been learning? I should have taken more science and physics classes in school when I had the chance. Actually, all is going well with this goal.
Current: Increase workload on my "main project" Goal: Produce more than I did last week.
I just barely succeeded here.
Current: Continue work on my mainstream novel Goal: Order of events, character sketches, actual scenes...whatever I'm in the mood to work on.
Major success! I'm just about ready to start the writing phase!
UPCOMING WEEK In less than 5 hours, I'm officially on vacation! Ergo, I'm not setting any result-based goals this time around. Instead, I plan to spend some quality time "sharpening the saw" during my time off. Among other activities, I'm going to clean my office (think: office supply warehouse and a book store after an explosion), lounge around in a quiet environment and let my mind wander (and my digital audio recorder will be in hand the entire time), and---actually, I have no idea what else I plan to do. I'm sure my kids have plenty of ideas.
posted
Last week's goals: Keep on getting chapters written and sent out for the exchange. I've been trying for one chapter a day, and mostly succeeding. I've been getting some good stuff out and I'm pretty pleased with it, also looking forward to the chapters to come because they're fun.
This week's goals: Same thing. Still have some chapters to write because I haven't quite bridged the gap, and then I can copy/paste like the good Lord intended.
What I learned this week. Alan Shore WILL tell his client that his best legal recourse at this time is to flee the country. But he'll do it in such a way that he covers his own...assets. (BTW that's from Boston Legal.)
posted
I started writing the novel this morning (it's 6.15am here atm).
The biggest problem? I'm so used to procrastinating I don't know how I'm going to even approach - let alone meet - my wordcount targets. As evidenced by the fact I'm posting here and not writing.
I think it'll improve as I get into it though, that's certainly what happened last time. I'll hit the confessional with next week's NSG and see how many words in I am - currently I'm sitting at a modest 685.
Story Writing: Complete a draft of chapter 4 and start chapter 5 -
I tried different approaches to the close of chapter 4 and feel that none of them work. I'll leaving it as-is until I've written more of the novel. I did start chapter 5, which isn't going well.
Characterization: Complete a new character profile for N.S. -
Whoops. Forgot. Instead, I worked on profiles for Grammy and Grandpa.
Planning: Complete scene and sequels worksheets for chapter 5 -
Nope. My focus wandered to chapters 13-16 and chapter 18.
Research: Decide in which towns the characters reside and start compiling (or adding to) notes on those specific areas -
I don't even want to talk about this. I've gone to city-data.com, Google Maps and its partner photo site, read through city websites, etc. I can't find all the information I'm looking for and I'm tired of searching online. Some people who gave me information about South-Central Pennsylvania offered to put me in contact with others who can possibly answer detailed questions. That's the approach I'm taking this week.
Next Week’s Goals
Story Writing: Complete a draft of chapter 5, however bad
Characterization: Add to the new character profiles for N.S., Grammy, and Grandpa
Planning: Complete scene and sequels worksheets for chapter 5
Research: Gather more information on the setting
Lessons Learned
The life stories and core personalities of secondary characters matter almost as much as those for primary characters. Any scenes involving characters I don't know well aren't clear in my mind, so I struggle to write them. Also, humans are sometimes better resources than the Internet.
posted
I did pretty well this week, thought not all of it was what I intended to be working on.
1) Write another chapter of SB - nope, didn't even look at it. 2) Work on plot outlining for TSG - check. 3) Write more on TGS if inspired - completely inspired. I think I banged out over 25K altogether. I am way excited; the end of the novel is in sight! 4) WotF stuff - I'm avoiding starting edits on my entry...
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Well, I wrote... something last night. Its supposed to be a revised start for Yao's Dragons. Instinct tells me its not there yet. Too slow a start, insufficient characterization, an entire paragraph flashback: you get the picture. I want to get better at going "hot" in my character's head, but I don't have a feel when to get closer in and when to back off.
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Woo hoo! I just realized it's Thursday, not Friday, which means i have one precious day to get all my goals accomplished. Posts: 2185 | Registered: Aug 2007
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Actually, all is going well with this goal.
