Scarlet Hill - No progress today.
"Say My Name" - I didn't get to the re-draft of this short story as I had planned.
"The Last Days And Deeds Of Jasper McAllister" - This ended up being the focus of my day. After some help in the brainstorming section of our forums, I was off and running. I had to take a few breaks to research some things, because of the Old West setting. My knowledge of the era comes mostly from movies and I wanted to make sure I had at least a semi-accurate take on the setting. So I learned things like, yes saloons did sometimes have the double swinging doors on them, but not nearly as ubiquitous as film would make you think. And I got sidetracked down a few rabbit trails like reading about the Earp-Cowboy feud in Tombstone. But I still managed to pound out 1769 words. Its a little rough in spots, but I knew going into this story the first section was the most unpolished one in my rough outline. But everything is in motion and now we can get to the stuff that's been more vividly outlined.
Also my daughter and I have settled on a story we are going to collaborate on. I'm so looking forward to this. We will probably start next week.
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TS - Getting anything done while traveling is impressive in my book. I took a week off from writing while in Vegas that was purely a pleasure trip.
cmhbob - Job hunting can be frustrating. Keep plugging away.
Imaginaryist - It wouldn't take much to convince me whoever told you that was right. And rewrites are an important step.
Rao - I have a similar take on writing. I've learned I need to plan a little, put a scaffolding in place of where I want to go and how I think I will get there, but sometimes characters take on a life of their own and you can't force them where they don't want to go. You have to be flexible, but for me at least, without the scaffolding laid out first, I start off running with a premise or character idea, and after a bit look around and go, how what do I do? Its funny how each writer has their own process. Some folks are meticulous planners and others just get an idea and let it fly. And then there is every spot conceivable between the two extremes.
But great word count so far. Wow.
Pterofan - I suppose in writing, like poker, you have to know when to cash out.
CMBright - Nothing wrong with a little detour with some flash fiction or a short story.
Nether - Its good to just get some on the page, even if its not perfect. Its at least out there and you might be able to find ways to massage the info in more gracefully at other points. And yes there was a q in my name originally it was a typo and the staff kindly corrected it for me.
And if you're good (and I like to think I am) poker isn't really gambling at least in the traditional sense of trying to beat the odds. Its playing a game of chance with the odds firmly in your favor. At least low stakes cash poker is like that for me. Tournaments are a little more dicey due to larger fields and limited payout pools. But even there, I know the tournaments I played are cashable for me. My buddy and I both plan to try our luck next year at the same event. He went 14 levels and I went 12. You need to last 17 to cash, so we were in the ballpark.
