What's On Your Mind About Your Writing?

The dreaded Wall decided to appear today, and I'm doing my best to chisel it down. Instead of it being the whole of a chapter getting me down, it's these 4 newspaper articles that head it - these articles are important, because they lead into what the chapter's about and also tell what happened before the chapter takes place, and yet they mean no sense on what's happening in the chapter.

Spent most of August and the first days of September in ICU and PT rehab. I did write a scene in longhand for the historical. Going to get busy later today editing.

Made a post with regards to the problem I'm having with the villains plot in the Basic Writing Questions forum. In the meantime I'm going to pick up the draft and start working on it again, so far my plan has been but in chair writing, and instead of staying forever on one spot, drafting what I want to have happen and moving on. So long as I keepwriting you know? I refuse to fall into my old trap of getting bored and never finishing something, if I want to be a published author I need to finish this and I will! I refuse to admit defeat!

I let myself slip into a depression spiral for a few days, so didn't get any writing done. I've got homework to finish up in my "Writing the Other" class, and I'm still planning on finishing up my new short story "Anamet" by the end of next week. And I need to keep outlining my 2017 NaNoWriMo novel, And the Devil Will Drag You Under. And persist in revisions on Padma. So, so very busy! And none of it done over the past few days.

Turned in my revision for a media tie-in short story to the editor on Monday. Did my radio show on Tuesday evening. Tonight, we work on finishing the new Chapter Two to my Military SF novel and then edit the next couple of chapters to account for a new Chaps 1&2. If any time left over, continue plotting out Book Two of The Raven Cycle.

*more projects than time, as usual*

I need to find a schedule to get back to writing. Between work and school and family commitments, it isn't easy. So often, when I do have the time, I feel no inclination to write. I need to push through that. The best way to get writing done is to sit down and actually do it. Easy in theory, but not always so easy in practice.

I think the last book of my trilogy is either going to be one really big book, or it's not going to be a trilogy anymore.

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Cindyt said:

Spent most of August and the first days of September in ICU and PT rehab. I did write a scene in longhand for the historical. Going to get busy later today editing.

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Yikes! Are you doing okay now?

Spend so long editing my draft. Now, I have translate the whole thing. I hate that my native language isn't English. But it's fine. I'll manage.

Passed 100,000 words in the novel today, the second I've written since November. Maybe 20 pages left. 30.

The difference between steampunk and dieselpunk and which would not only work better for a fantasy world that is bleak and miserable and oppressive, but also work best when combined with the existence of magic.

Reservoir Angel said:

The difference between steampunk and dieselpunk and which would not only work better for a fantasy world that is bleak and miserable and oppressive, but also work best when combined with the existence of magic.

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Anything can be made bleak, and anything can be combined with magic

What are some of the thoughts you are sure of?

Depressed again. I keep jumping out of my novel WIP to write short stories, and I always assume that I can get them done quickly. But I have been on a science-fiction kick lately and they end up taking more and more time because there is more research involved. The novel is not giving me any special trouble, and the fact that I am allowing myself to be so easily distracted is rather discouraging. Sometimes the shorts I write fall way flat and then I don't bother to revise then for months. Times like these make me feel less like a professional in training back to being a ranking amateur.

Wondering about how effective the Stanislavski method is when it pertains to writing and getting the most of out what you are attempting to do.

Write what you know, right?

DanielSTJ said:

Wondering about how effective the Stanislavski method is when it pertains to writing and getting the most of out what you are attempting to do.

Write what you know, right?

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Method writing? I think I do a little of that... I certainly inhabit my POV character's emotional space while writing the first draft, and I frequently walk through scenes to block them and talk through dialogue.

edutton said:

Method writing? I think I do a little of that... I certainly inhabit my POV character's emotional space while writing the first draft, and I frequently walk through scenes to block them and talk through dialogue.

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Yes, that is exactly what I am speaking of.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has considered/is doing this. = D

edutton said:

Method writing? I think I do a little of that... I certainly inhabit my POV character's emotional space while writing the first draft, and I frequently walk through scenes to block them and talk through dialogue.

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A friend of mine who has worked extensively in theater uses this approach as well. She swears by it.

I finally got going on my short story "Anamet" again. Yay! And getting some research done on my novel Padma, and outlining done on And the Devil Will Drag You Under. Today was a busy day.

edutton said:

Method writing? I think I do a little of that... I certainly inhabit my POV character's emotional space while writing the first draft, and I frequently walk through scenes to block them and talk through dialogue.

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I do it too, in that I adapt my life events to my books. For instance, while in PT rehab last month I wrote a scene about what happened to me and will edit it--with a chilling whang--into the historical. I passed out, woke on the bathroom floor, looked across into my bedroom, and thought, This is interesting, and passed out again. Mimi's experience is different, of course. I hate that I got sick, but it sure has spiced up that chapter.

Spent three weeks on a single chapter, and counting. Going to fe four soon. This is a record for me. Normally my first drafts take a few days a most, even if I edit for weeks after. No idea how long the edit will take this time.

It's the last chapter from ms1 which needed total overhaul...and what a bastard it has been.

edutton said:

Method writing? I think I do a little of that... I certainly inhabit my POV character's emotional space while writing the first draft, and I frequently walk through scenes to block them and talk through dialogue.

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I talk through dialogue sometimes, especially if it's not flowing. Most of the time it just goes, so I let them do their thing. The goal of Method acting, as set forth anyhow, was for the actor to achieve an emotional identification with their character. There are branches in Method theory I won't get into that differ in their approaches (Strasburg vs. Adler, and their successors) but basically whenever I am writing, I am in the character's headspace for the duration of writing them, and often well before and after.

I'm working on a MG fantasy of the "portal" variety.

My main concerns right now are:
1.) Fine-tuning world building. I swear I discover something every day that needs to be considered!
2.) Researching the science element of the series.
3.) Doing what I can to make the first three chapters interesting, informative, and not too long. (You know, the part before the hero ends up in the fantasy world.)

I haven't been writing, but I've made great progress on revisions of The Shadowed Land.

edutton said:

Method writing? I think I do a little of that... I certainly inhabit my POV character's emotional space while writing the first draft, and I frequently walk through scenes to block them and talk through dialogue.

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I talk through dialogue all the time as it is the best way for me to get a feel on if it flows well or not. I will also act through scenes to see if movements work or are even physically possible (with the knowledge that I write about supernatural creatures so they can do things I can't as a lazy human).

Right now, I am starting over. Not 100% fresh as I kept my prologue and a couple other scenes, but I decided to start the whole thing a different way which changes a lot of what came after. Oh well. It works better this way, introduces a more important character earlier, and sets the scene for a huge character change later on so that it will make more sense and have a bigger impact.

Finally found an image of a trawler yacht to illustrate a half page title in the crime novel. I'm hoping my endurance keeps going for some new copy on that book.

Been fighting myself these past few days to get going on chapter 13. I've found SO MANY problems with just the newspaper articles that head it that my head's spinning double-time. The names of people are either too much of a mouthful or are silly; the dates on the articles are wrong; the material in the articles is the same... I've basically rewritten each article from start -- they're THAT bad!! I'm now worried about the rest of the chapter because, if its start is this bad, then the rest must be the same or even worse.