August 2022 Challenge - Build a Writing Habit!

Unimportant

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Day 4:

More scientific research, especially genetic engineering and viruses. I will probably continue with the idea I had before, only now I have more data to write a more meticulous reason for why this and that happens. However, I'm still trying to figure out how I fit blood into this, which is an important piece of the puzzle. Might bounce ideas off with the research board, maybe someone there will be able to offer insights (or if any geneticist is reading my post, feel free to reach out xD).

Also wrote a bit more of WIP 2. Chapter 2 is coming along well, I believe. It's my first time writing a child character (I mean, my science fantasy series has children, but they are either "different" or don't have enough spotlight), which presents some challenges. But despite my worries, it's proving to be a nice experience - plus, she won't be a child for the whole story 🙌
Ooooh, blood! I'm not a geneticist by any means, but I luuuurve blood, so if you have any blood-stick-y points, PM me.

(Fran--totally NOT a vampire, but does teach haematology as a sideline)
 

Taylor Harbin

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8-5: well, this is an odd day. Came up with a new idea for a new work and immediately wrote it off as gimmicky and stupid. But today something clicked and the conversation in my head went like this:

Me: hey, you know what we should do? We should write THIS where THAT happens.

Me 2: heh, that’s funny. And we could even give it THIS title which fits perfectly and it even sets up the reveal at the end. Lol. Like, who would read that?

Me: well it’s not like you’ve got anything else to work on. It’s good for a few chuckles at least. Why not? Look at that ENDING.

Me 2: yeah, haha. We should totally write that.

Me: I’m serious. Get to the typewriter.

Me 2: okay…

So, I’m now a page and a half into this new absurdity. Probably could have finished a rough draft if I’d not had to come to work. Hopefully the excitement will linger long enough for me to finish the day in good spirits, come home, say hi to visitors, and sneak some time to myself to continue.

I don’t know what a real manic episode looks or feels like but this is probably the closest thing I’ve ever experienced.
 

Taylor Harbin

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8-5: I was able to do more writing tonight. I’m now on page 8 and I’m exhausted. I’m glad I was using my electric typewriter because I wouldn’t have been able to get so many words on paper otherwise.

In terms of formatting it’s a hot mess. It started with regular dialogue, but the conversation was in pidgin. Got weary of that and moved to a transcript format pretending the conversation had been cleaned up for mass distribution. Realized this was unnecessary so now I’m writing normally again.

I might be working on complete and total trash but at least I’m writing.
 

Ink-Soul

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Day 5:

Some small edits to my main WIP. Something about acting like a corpse because the MC is bored to death.

More scientific research. Huge thanks to @Unimportant for all the advice regarding blood cells and their complex workings, I feel like my story is already in much better shape :D
 

Nether

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Day 5 was a paltry 6 pages marked up.

Despite being ahead at one point, I fell asleep in my chair when I was supposed to be editing. And this was after sporadically starting to nod off at work today. I'm more than a little concerned I might get caught falling asleep at some point, considering I'll likely have a new co-worker within the next few weeks who -- unlike the previous one -- might notice and say something. Ever since that booster a few months ago, I've been sporadically tired. At first I thought it was something from the booster, but I'm not sure an adverse effect could last like that.
 

anaemic_mind

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Days 4 & 5

A bit of reading. A bit of note taking. Not much brain power for much else. A somewhat annoying plot hole has appeared in act 2. Need to let it simmer for a few days. Either I need to plug it there or change some conversations in act 1.

Lots of desk moving prep happened though. All boxes now in kitchen. Space where shelves will be built in lounge to house contents of said boxes now clear and clean.
 

Pterofan

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Days 5 & 6 - not much accomplished yesterday; only wrote a couple of lines. Today, however... I think I got about two pages in. Lots of arguing with the editor, who gets to show off his greed and disdain in all its douchey vainglory. I stopped at the point where General Wayne's ghost warns them the mercenaries are on their way. Yep, Ed forgot to deactivate his personal tracker. Shootout tomorrow.

Speaking of showing and telling, I've decided to change my epilogue. Originally it was going to be the PI narrator telling us what happened to the characters. However, in the movie-in-my-head version (c'mon, you know we've all got one of at least one of our books), they're watching the TV adaptation of the zombie series. The fanatical zombie hunter is now the heroic lead. He's also African-American. His daughter (he's only got one; the younger one, the writer, has been scrubbed from this version) is his second-in-command, and it's hinted she's either bi or lesbian. The white guy who was originally the series lead has been converted into a snivelly Dr. Smith type character, and bears a not-quite-libelous resemblance to the editor. Our Heroes are somewhat befuddled by the changes, except for Ed, who's good with it. :greenie I think a combo of this showing style with the original telling style will work better overall. Then I can put more jokes in. :hooray:
 

Lea123

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DAY 6

Yesterday, I did LOTS of map work. Like, really went into stupid tiny details kind of map work. It's for continuity purposes as I figured that most of what I'll always write will be based in the world I've created. I want to keep track of it and it's also a nice side hobby without distancing myself so much from my WIP that I forget to look at it for days... weeks... BAM, a decade.

The map is different to the one I've previously made which marks locations and the routes characters took, climate conditions and a bit of distance marking. This one has layers of fold out bits where I'm marking the ideas for the other stories that I can then come back to later on when their time is right. I'm not dismissing them, they're shelved... it's the only way I can stay focused without drowning in future possibilities.

Anyway, I'm really enjoying making notes on the flora and fauna, working out climates has always been fun and it's just... nice. I can't explain it. Wholesome?


Today has been different. Allergic to wasps. Got stung by wasp. Was literally just stood in my living room, minding my own business. Look down expecting my hair to be tickling my arm, it's a wasp. It stung me, I screamed, whacked it somewhere (probs still in the lounge plotting my death) and then I tried not to panic as the splodging appeared down my arm.
It's not epi-pen worthy at the moment but it usually consists of hives, itching like mad and swelling... OH the swelling.

It's been almost ten years since I was stung last. Poor teenage me got attacked in the park and it was awful. I was expecting the same again but perhaps it's the fact that it was only one wasp sting this time? I don't know.

Anyway, off to go submerge my arm back in ice and try not to chew my arm off. All the anti-histamine has knocked me out too and I was in the car (not driving) and was like 'urgh, what's that... oh. It's me. I'm dribbling.' Arm so swollen I've lost knuckle, wrist and elbow definition, I'm like half a Michelin man.
 

Taylor Harbin

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8-6: feeling pretty tired atm. Woke up at 5am and did a work related event until about 2pm, got home at 3pm. Hoping to write a little after dinner but I might not get much done. There will be a lot of holes to fill in revisions because this was a story unplanned. Just got to power through…
 

charred-chard

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Hello all, I'm brand new, so I'm just going to attempt to adhere to some sort of discipline and try to get it mostly right.

1. Check in every day of writing.
2. Write at least 500 words Mon-Fri.
3. Do at least one hour of journaling daily.
4. Research! (This could take minutes or hours depending on the day, but I'm going to try to maintain some kind of coherence to my research practice.)
 

Ink-Soul

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Day 6:

More DNA. More blood. More "what the heck am I doing?" moments. But it's evolving! I feel like this part of the research is near its end, and I'm really liking the shape it's taking. Thanks again to @Unimportant, I never thought I could do so much with blood xD Also thanks to @Woollybear and his insights into the complex universe of genetics!
 

Taylor Harbin

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8-6: me again. On page 12 now. Work was a bit slower now that the initial excitement has worn off. I can see cracks in the facade. The problem with writing in a dead heat is that you forgo any preparation and have to take mental notes on what needs to be fixed to make the story work. I had to cheat and use brackets when I got blocked (ex [bob says the thing that makes Jill freak out, but what is it?]).

I’m trying to make this a good story without resorting to dumb gimmicks being it’s heart and soul. I need to flesh out the alien character’s cosmology so the reveal at the end won’t come off like a cheap shot. Big difference between a good reveal and a one trick pony.

Anywho, I hopefully will finish tomorrow. Then, cleanup begins…
 

Nether

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Day 6 was 11 pages marked up, closing out the remainder of the manuscript.

I don't think the number of line edits I need is as extensive as it was on manuscript 7, but there are some things I need to fix and then some larger continuity issues both related to this one and the sequels. Within any luck, I should be done within a week or two and then I'll go over it that one last time before I start calling it draft 2 and begin to talk about trying to find betas but make no progress on that. I'll probably re-do the query and synopsis before that.

Hard to stop thinking about editing/revising the other ones, as well as starting that mannequin one. Particularly since I'd rather draft than edit. Never that much of a feeling of progress when editing.

Anyway, I'll be gradually outlining the mannequin manuscript. Feeling a little lukewarm on the fantasy project I'd meant to start, but I've had so many other things jump to mind since... and then, you know, I'm still sitting on 19 manuscripts either drafted, proofed, or early beta'd.
 

Cindyt

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Day 6

I had the sleepies today but couldn’t sleep, and we had violent electrical storms in the evening. This has been a strange summer. We are usually begging for rain from about July into August, but it’s stormed two or three days every week, without cooling the air for the regular five seconds after.

A DEADLY SPILL OF SCARLET
(Draft 4)​

WORD COUNT 227

Continued the line-by-line on Prologue: That Neanderthal Hunch. I decided to give Billy an assistant, after all, mostly to boost his playboy rep to the reader. In Part One: Deadland Rising (The Shadows Before), I’ll introduce three ex-girlfriends at an impromptu brunch aboard The ScareCrow. He remained friends with two of them after their short affairs ended. The third is a jealous bully he kicks off the boat. All those present that day—the exes, the best friend, Carolina, and the assistant who shows up for work—play a part in the major plotline. This is the first and last time they’re all together in the book.

Anyway, there’s Bridget in the marina who has the hots for him. And I’ve added his assistant Lupe Señor. Their relationship has remained platonic for the two years she’s worked for him, but he’s developed an itch.

I left Billy crawling the Ferrari Testarossa down Biscayne Bay Boulevard on his way to the boat from Miami International Airport, thinking he might just invite lovely Lupe to go cruising with him down to The Keys. He calls her up but decides to ask her in person when she comes in later that day to transcribe the florist case notes. Little does he know who and what the day holds.
 
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anaemic_mind

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Day 6

Another physical day, moving boxes and filling shelves with very little energy left for anything else. Did read through a few older drafts in the evening though, trying to find a particular scene I want to replicate elsewhere. It's made me realise I really need to maintain some kind of changelog. My pantsing really leaves such a mess.
 

Taylor Harbin

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8-7: finished! The blasted draft is finished, about 4300 words (typos and other errors with the software taken into account). It’s rough, very rough, and needs a lot of work to be anything approaching good. To put it simply: it’s a “disappointing first contact” story, but till sink or swim based on how I can refine the concept and execute it. Right now it’s nothing more than a private joke but I’m glad I got it out of my system instead of self-rejecting.

Now I need a break…
 

Cindyt

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8-7: finished! The blasted draft is finished, about 4300 words (typos and other errors with the software taken into account). It’s rough, very rough, and needs a lot of work to be anything approaching good. To put it simply: it’s a “disappointing first contact” story, but till sink or swim based on how I can refine the concept and execute it. Right now it’s nothing more than a private joke but I’m glad I got it out of my system instead of self-rejecting.

Now I need a break…
:snoopy:
 
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Woollybear

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OK, dragging myself in to check in.

Got chapter 7 critiqued and fiddled with it based on those comments. Need to pull up chapter 8 to prep for this week. Four chapters to go, I can do this, I can do this...

Oh, I decided to add a goal of lining up like a bazillion tiktok videos to run over the next month. Want to see if I can build followers. My next experimenting in sales, later this fall, will be to focus only on the 'free' marketing approach.
 
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