May Challenge - Write Every Day

Hello!

I wrote nothing at all on Friday and Saturday (no, I did write a book review on Saturday, and I promised myself I would count those). Friday I went out to dinner and had a drunken conversation about my novel (I think this is something I have done before...). Saturday - I'm not sure where Saturday went. There was that book review, and a great deal of walking, and a couple of hours of reading, and about half a 1950 movie watched (The Asphalt Jungle)... something something.

Anyway hey it's Sunday! I'm do plan to write some today. And to make a beef-noodle soup from a recipe I saw on Tasty. Who wants to come over?

April: Ah, on the best nights I get the whiskey and the words. It sounds like you had a fun couple of days!

Daniel: Welcome back to regular life.

xenylic: Good luck with the 60k mark and the query revisions. For self-care - you can do as Layla does and use this thread to help track and motivate those goals, too. It all contributes to your overall mental health, which contributes to your writing.

Keithy: Every damn word counts.

Layla: I am so sorry about that situation at work. People sometimes get so absorbed in their own thing that they forget how their actions affect others. The workshop I was in at work the other day - the one where I spaced out for a bit and outlined some of my story on a post-it note - was about having productive feedback conversations, and they reminded us several times that positive feedback is in some ways MORE important than negative feedback. It's very easy for even a dedicated manager to forget that. So this person caught up in whom to hire hasn't paused to think "I should let Layla know that this isn't personal and she's been great in a bunch of different ways" - absorption in one's own stuff.

Taylor: I'm unlikely to attempt the contest - but I'd love to know if you end up doing it.

Right, good morning!

Sunday almost slipped away from me but not before I got 551 new words into the manuscript. Once again in doubt that much of this will survive revision - it's not that it's awful, it's that it may not be necessary. But I am experimenting with things, and in that sense it's all part of learning (and I have so much to learn, let me tell you).

Anyway I do have the day off and after an unaccountably lazy morning I am settling in for a bit of writing now. I will report back later today with greetings for all of you.

Good morning all

The good news: I wrote about 910 words into the manuscript yesterday. And they weren't bad - the core of it will likely stay on revision, even if some of the exchanges I put earlier in the chapter don't make the cut. Finished Chapter 28, got Eddie through her sickness and out the door on the way to her fateful night on the town, so now it's back to Grace and the aftermath of the cocktail party: A confrontation with the uninvited guest, and then with Grace's husband.

I do wish I could write as productively as some of you. I was lamenting yesterday (to myself) how much longer I have to go, not just to finish this draft, but to revise it. I've been working on this one novel for two years, and I don't see it being sooner than two more years just to bring it to the point where I decide whether it's worth querying. I wonder if one project can hold my attention for that long. They don't, usually.

It's getting rather late and I ought to be gathering myself together to go for a run this morning, so I will check in with each of you later.

Hello folks

Not quite the last day of May but realistically I'm not looking at getting a ton done on the novel in the next couple of days. Tonight I'm just going to be tired - I will probably work a little late as I did last night (and I didn't write last night). I have a feeling it's going to be that same kind of evening. Tomorrow evening I have to pack for a trip I'm taking on Friday - my 25th college reunion.

Speaking of reunion: One of my college classmates is a published author whose novels are beginning to gain some critical traction. I had a drink with her about a year ago, and when I mentioned I'd been working on the novel for nearly a year, she said, "Oh, you have all the time in the world." She worked on her first novel on and off for ten years, while raising two boys and being something of a rock star in what was then her day job. I try to remember her words when I wonder whether I'll have the attention span to really see this thing through. Thanks to all of you for the kind words about that. (And yes, I'll be seeing her this weekend.)

April: I like to call it "running" but it's really more a sort of bouncing shuffle. I'm old (see above) and chubby and slow. About focusing on the next word, this is good advice. I am really excited for my revisions right now; I think my itch to get there and dive into them is what is keeping me moving forward with the draft. That said, I'm sure I'll sing a different tune when I actually get there. About scrapping a completed chapter - it has happened to me more than once along the way, and it's always frustrating. But it's also satisfying, when the second attempt is indeed more promising than the first. Good luck.

Daniel: Nice work. You met my daily goal.

Keithy: Great work. I wonder if there is any way to talk about grabbing a sword that doesn't sound like double entendre.

Layla: Your story confirms my theory that these people you have been working with are thoughtless and suffering from cranial-rectal inversion. None of the dumb stuff they throw your way has anything to do with you or the quality of your work! As for the dental work, I happened to see a meme on Facebook this morning that said: "My dentist told me I need a crown, and I was like I KNOW, RIGHT?!" Consider yourself as royalty.

xenylic: I love that your goal for the month is so well in hand. Superb!

Magnus: Come on back whenever you're ready. Thanks for starting off the June thread.

heykatydid: Welcome back. I know you've been working on this move for a long time - I'm so glad it finally came through for you.

Oh hey, look - it's lunchtime!