MayNoWriMo 2018 - For I Was Young And Loved

Tamlyn · May 8, 2018

Week 1 update. I... what have I done this week?

Most of my goals are 'continues' so I guess I can't really expect to finish anything in a week. I did finish reading both Every Heart a Doorway and Beneath a Sugar Sky. My library books reminded me I'd already had them out for three weeks and, hey, really should read some of them. Maybe I'll read my shiny book copy of P&P first >>

I have done a smidgen of transcription, a couple of thousand words of Haven, a slightly bigger smidgen of game (it is likely cancelled this month anyway so it has lowest priority), and a chapter and a half of Marietta. Oh, and I actually did some organising for Haven. Two pages after I introduced someone's daughter I was going what the hell did I name her. So I made a character list and will add to it as necessary. The first thing (forgetting) I always do; the second thing is smart and sensible and I never do it.

I have played so much Diablo. It's with my sister though so it counts as family bonding time, not just gaming, right? (We came into the season late and decided to do it. I have never done seasonal stuff before.) Had a bunch of actually leaving the house stuff on too, but it was mostly Diablo.

My foot is slowly healing. I slammed it into the bottom of a cupboard this morning and scraped it up a bit, just for funsies (...).

1. Read five books. 2/5
2. Continue transcription. Smidgen.
3. Edit/Finish one story. 0/1
4. Continue writing Haven. Ongoing.
5. Continue game planning. Little bit.
6. Edit a substantial amount of Marietta. (Book 1) Ongoing.
7. Min 500 words or 2 pages edited per day (with one dedicated writing day per week). Yes! (A green!)

froglivers · May 8, 2018

Hi mrsmig,
hey there April campers~

I thought first week of May would be like a continuation of April, but i ended up writing and rewriting the two transition chapters over and over again to see which direction works better (that's what I'm doing today, too). So I'm still at the tail end of Part 3. Not even started on tugging Part 4 into shape.

Eh, no hurry. It's better done right than fast.

Anyway, the weather is beautiful with an early blast of summer, which means the dog's serious walk has to be over and done with in the morning, and the rest of the day is spent telling her no, you can't go out and burn your paws on the sidewalk, just pee on the grass and come in. She's getting rebellious. She spent an hour in the field eating grass and poo and tempting another dog to run away from his dad.

Saoirse · May 9, 2018

Update:

[] Finish 2nd round edits on Fireborn (due 6/1) ~74 pages in
[x] Finish reading Queen Takes Rook and post review

And that's it!

Elenitsa · May 11, 2018

Elenitsa said:
Finishing 2 novels - one has 3 scenes left to write, one about 5 chapters I think.

Finished the one with "3 scenes"

It is titled "The Crew" and it is YA.

3 chapters left for the other ("Other turmoils of life", historical/ western)

Dreamsage · May 12, 2018

Ah... I posted in the wrong thread again

For this week
[

] Find an interesting internship
[X]Decide on a bachelor thesis and prepare a presentation for my teachers

For this month
[X] Either make a complete professional portfolio, or upload the rest of my art in Deviantart
[X] Keep writing regularly - every 4 days at least
[XX] Goals for my comic: re-write the 2nd chapter, also aim to convey better the characters' inner world through the dialogue/behavior (made the 3td ch. too!)
[X] Create at least one complete piece of artwork till the next month
[X] Connect more with the world around me (I'm spending the last months mostly locked up in my room)
[1/3] Read all the three books I've borrowed from the library: (1) Script writing, (2) Typography and color, (3) V for Vendetta

The internship was the most important... but nothing yet. And I stopped hoping for something interesting soon after I started searching

--------------------

New goals!

[] Find a paid internship. ANY internship :flag:

[] Rewrite the rest of my comic (two chapters)
[] Find someone who wishes to review all that I've written and help me make the story publishable (maybe it already is, but I'm not that confident on my writing yet)
[] Read the two books I've borrowed from the library.

mrsmig · May 12, 2018

No writing accomplished this past week; packing for our Oregon vacay took precedence, along with the sudden appearance of my first round of edits on Book 4. I wanted to get that taken care of before we left town (along with the info for a full-series press packet the publisher's marketing person asked for), so I sat at my computer most of the second half of the week. Focused exercise sessions suffered for the same reason.

BUT NOW - we're in Oregon! A solid week on the beach, with superior Pinot Noir wine country only an hour and a half away. Guessing writing will take a back seat this week, too, but I refuse to feel guilty about that: my husband and I haven't had a vacation together in two years. I'm typing this looking out at the Pacific Ocean - splendid.

I put aside MIGRAINE for a bit and started a three-novella set by AW's own Aggy B. on the plane, and I'm really enjoying it. I was going to read some more last night but after a six-hour flight and a 2.5 hour drive, I only wanted to cuddle up in bed and fall asleep listening to the crash of the surf.

[ ] Write 10k fresh new words for Camp on my WIP (Book 5 of my fantasy series; starting count 13,519) - 13,608 out of 23,519
[x] Review 1st round edits on Book 4 DONE
[ ] Read 3 books - 0 of 3
[ ] Lose 3 more pounds - 0 of 3
[ ] Get 30 minutes of exercise 3 times a week:
Week 1 - 3 of 3
Week 2 - 1 of 3
Week 3 - 0 of 3
Week 4 - 0 of 3

Dreamsage · May 12, 2018

mrsmig said:
I'm typing this looking out at the Pacific Ocean - splendid.

Wow, that sounds wonderful! Have a great time, you're worth it!

Raindrop · May 13, 2018

mrsmig said:
BUT NOW - we're in Oregon! A solid week on the beach, with superior Pinot Noir wine country only an hour and a half away. Guessing writing will take a back seat this week, too, but I refuse to feel guilty about that: my husband and I haven't had a vacation together in two years. I'm typing this looking out at the Pacific Ocean - splendid.

Wow! Sounds great. Enjoy your holiday

[ ] Draft 2 of Sculptures: write 30,000 words to get to 50,000 words => Still behind target at 29,900 words.
[ ] Lose 1.5kg - 2kg max. => -1kg; right on track.
[X] Draw in my nature journal and/or take photographs 4x => nature journal 1, photos 3
[ ] Bodyweight training: 2 sessions a week, 3 if possible
Week 30 Apr: bodyweight 3, bootcamp/kickboxing 1, running 1
Week 7 May: bodyweight 3, bootcamp 0, yoga 1, running 2
Week 14 May:
Week 18 May:

I finished the week on a short run in a nearby park. Lovely!

Jaymz Connelly · May 13, 2018

Update time. I made better progress on Mahpee this week, but that's about it.

[ ] second draft of Mahpee (31/44 pages – 19,805 words)
[ ] short story
[ ] work on outline for The Crystal Throne (previously called Elementals)
[ ] start SS:AMNG story

bdwilson · May 14, 2018

Meh. I kept up last week. That was about it.

[X] ~~Go through my clothes for stuff I can give away~~
[ ] Go through my kick-knacks for stuff I can give away
[ ] Give away the give-away pile
[-] Read The Night Circus
[ ] Read American Gods
[ ] Pull together draft of short story for next Alphabet Anthology and finish
[ ] Pull together draft of a different short story and finish
[X] ~~Edit every day: Week 18 (May portion)~~
[X] ~~Edit every day: Week 19~~
[ ] Edit every day: Week 20
[ ] Edit every day: Week 21
[ ] Edit every day: Week 22 (May portion)

EMaree · May 15, 2018

[13.5k] Write 20k
[ ] Get Divide into messy but logical order. [almost there! C'mon!]
[ ] Finish Divide draft.
[ ] Beta Read #1 - for M
[ ] Beta Read 2 - for J
[ ] Health: Lose five pounds.
[ ] Roller Derby: Figure out crossovers.
[ ] Roller Derby: Glide on one foot around the track.
[ ] Create art
[ ] Gaming: Finish Night in the Woods
[2/6] Read 6 books... and actually finish some of these inprog ones, jeez.
x Writing for Love
x Crossplay
Angel's Blood [inprog]
The Sketchbook of Loish [inprog]
Anatomy of a Story [inprog]
Inside of a Dog [inprog]
Mothership [inprog]
The Heir to the North (audiobook) [inprog]
The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea #2)
The Farthest Shore (Earthsea #3)
Ancillery Justice (#sffbookclub Mastodon Readalong)

Save the Cat [reread]

Tamlyn · May 15, 2018

Mid-month update. Which is pretty much the same as the last update.

I did a smidgen more transcription, another couple of thousand words of Haven, another smidgen of game (which was cancelled but will hopefully be in a couple of weeks), and a couple more chapters of Marietta. I also actually got some things back out on submission that had just been sitting.

Decided to read P&P but haven't finished yet.

So nothing to update on my list, really, and I have lots of social stuff coming up, but I am not feeling behind as yet. Should get a bunch of editing done today.

1. Read five books. 2/5
2. Continue transcription. Smidgen.
3. Edit/Finish one story. 0/1
4. Continue writing Haven. Ongoing.
5. Continue game planning. Little bit.
6. Edit a substantial amount of Marietta. (Book 1) Ongoing.
7. Min 500 words or 2 pages edited per day (with one dedicated writing day per week). Yes! (A green!)

Raindrop · May 20, 2018

Good job with submitting stuff, Tamlyn! That's something I really need to work on.

Change of plans for me:
- I want to take part to the AW beta project :hooray:

, so I spent most of my writing time on the hook/query (spoiler: it sucks) and the first 750 words (spoiler: the first three sentences need a lot of massaging).

- Something else that needs massaging: my left arm. I have a tennis elbow. Grrrrr. Weight training is out for a week or two. I decided to swap my Ouch to Handstand sessions with the Couch to 5K (C25k) running programme (rather than running "randomly" like I've been doing for the last few weeks). My coach is Michael Johnson. <-- Swoon! He's got a Voice!

[LOLnope] Draft 2 of Sculptures: write 30,000 words to get to 50,000 words => 32,000 words. The target is a dark speck on the horizon.
[ ] Lose 1.5kg - 2kg max. => -1.3kg; eating at maintenance for a few days while my elbow does its thing.
[X] Draw in my nature journal and/or take photographs 4x => nature journal 2, photos 3
[ ] ~~Bodyweight training: 2 sessions a week, 3 if possible~~ Do whatever I can, as long as it doesn't hurt.
Week 30 Apr: bodyweight 3, bootcamp/kickboxing 1, running 1
Week 7 May: bodyweight 3, bootcamp 0, yoga 1, running 2
Week 14 May: bodyweight 1, bootcamp 1, yoga 1, running 2
Week 18 May:

Isilya · May 20, 2018

Blue is so much easier to see.

[/] Finish editing novella (Heart) ~ part 2[X] 3[/] 4[ / ] 5[/] 6[/] 7[/]8[/] 9[/] First pass complete!
[ ] Write the first draft of a new short story
[/] Edit short story (Late Night)
[X] Post story for critique
[ ] Submit one story So close. Just running it through my critique group first
[X] Finish beta'ing chapters
[ ] Read 4 books ~ at least two from the TBR pile Not making any progress on this at all
[X] Read outside I've been editing paper copies outside. Working well so far. It's nice not be at my computer. :Sun:

[X] Trim the pear tree
[X] Trim the apple tree
[ ] Go for a walk and lift weights once a week
Week of May 5th: 1 weights / 2 walks
Week of May 12th:0 weights / 2 walks
Week of May 19th: 0 weights / 1 really long walk (4hrs)
Week of May 26th:
Week of June 2nd:

Things are moving. Slowly. But still moving. We're staying ahead of the outside work. [knocks on wood] Large trimming is complete. Just need to trim the small suckers and we're all set. Even keeping a head of the grass this year.
Writing-wise I'm excited that the 2018 Beta Project is starting soon (link). Editing will be done just in time for potential betas. :snoopy:

mrsmig · May 20, 2018

Back from the vacay/family wedding and am proud to report that I did next to nothing the whole week except enjoy myself. I cuddled with the husband, drank good wine, ate good chowder, saw beautiful views, walked on the beach, poked around in tidal pools and went on a whale-watching trip (saw three gray whales; yippee!). We did a LOT of nature walking/hiking, so that effortlessly took care of my exercise goals, but I went nowhere near a scale and expect I came back somewhat fatter than when I departed. No matter. I wouldn't have eaten one calorie less.

I did finish AW's own A.G. Carpenter's Touch: A Trilogy (enjoyed it) and another book (Lucy Greely's Autobiography of a Face; lovely). So between that and the walking/hiking, I did make some progress after all.

I start rehearsals for my next show tomorrow, so I'm a bit worried that writing time may be at a premium - although that situation will sometimes light a fire under me. We'll see what I can get finished before month's end.

[ ] Write 10k fresh new words for Camp on my WIP (Book 5 of my fantasy series; starting count 13,519) - 13,608 out of 23,519
[x] Review 1st round edits on Book 4 DONE
[ ] Read 3 books - 2 of 3
[ ] Lose 3 more pounds - 0 of 3
[ ] Get 30 minutes of exercise 3 times a week:
Week 1 - 3 of 3
Week 2 - 1 of 3
Week 3 - 3 of 3
Week 4 - 0 of 3

Jaymz Connelly · May 20, 2018

I managed to accomplish a bit this past week. Mahpee is done and off to beta after 3 drafts, and I've started my SS:AMNG story. I'd really like to get the short story completed, though. I started it a while back, so it's half done, I just need to finish the blasted thing. Fingers crossed I'll get some peace to make that happen this week. As for the outline of The Crystal Throne, I think maybe it's ready to go. I just haven't looked at the outline at all this week to see if I need anything more noted down before I start it. That's probably pretty low on the list of things to do this month as I likely won't start it before I get the SS:AMNG story done.

[X] second draft of Mahpee (47/47 pages – 21,292 words)
[ ] short story
[ ] work on outline for The Crystal Throne (previously called Elementals)
[X] start SS:AMNG story

arikdiver · May 21, 2018

[ ] Finish Re-write of Ch1 novel
[ ] Complete edit of Act 1 novel
[ ] Write four new scenes
[X] Two Blog Posts
[X] Read 2 books

Ugh, not much happening on the writing front. Hoping the last week and a bit is more productive. On the plus side, I did finish knitting one sock and have progressed beyond the cuff on the second

bdwilson · May 21, 2018

A bit of progress! I finished The Night Circus last week. I liked it well enough, but not as much as I wanted to and not nearly as much as my friends on Goodreads. I've started American Gods, which I am enjoying far more.

So, @mrsmig, if our taste is similar, I'm guessing Night Circus is the "meh" and American Gods is the top 10. If not, then the other way around

/cop-out guess

[X] ~~Go through my clothes for stuff I can give away~~
[ ] Go through my kick-knacks for stuff I can give away
[ ] Give away the give-away pile
[X] Read The Night Circus
[-] Read American Gods
[ ] Pull together draft of short story for next Alphabet Anthology and finish
[ ] Pull together draft of a different short story and finish
[X] ~~Edit every day: Week 18 (May portion)~~
[X] ~~Edit every day: Week 19~~
[X] ~~Edit every day: Week 20~~
[ ] Edit every day: Week 21
[ ] Edit every day: Week 22 (May portion)

Tamlyn · May 21, 2018

All the updates from everyone!

My weekly update is... the same as the previous.

I did a smidgen more transcription, another couple of thousand words of Haven, another smidgen of game (which was cancelled but will hopefully be in a couple of weeks), and a couple more chapters of Marietta.

Except I'm pretty sure I only did one chapter of Marietta and no game. Except that doesn't feel like enough to fill my week and I definitely didn't fail my daily goals. *eyes goals suspiciously* I, too, have been trying to get my stuff together for the Beta Project, so that was some of it.

Finished P&P. Started Martha Wells' All Systems Red and very much enjoying it. Not entirely certain I buy the POV voice, but I put aside my disbelief and am just going with it.

Foot injury is still injured. My sister's 30th coming this weekend, and we are celebrating all weekend in various ways. Not sure when I'm going to go words in then.

1. Read five books. 3/5
2. Continue transcription. Yes. Done enough smidgens now to count it

3. Edit/Finish one story. 0/1
4. Continue writing Haven. Ongoing.
5. Continue game planning. Little bit.
6. Edit a substantial amount of Marietta. (Book 1) Ongoing.
7. Min 500 words or 2 pages edited per day (with one dedicated writing day per week). Yes!

mrsmig · May 22, 2018

bdwilson said:
A bit of progress! I finished The Night Circus last week. I liked it well enough, but not as much as I wanted to and not nearly as much as my friends on Goodreads. I've started American Gods, which I am enjoying far more.

So, @mrsmig, if our taste is similar, I'm guessing Night Circus is the "meh" and American Gods is the top 10. If not, then the other way around

Ha - you would be right. My friends were all OMIGOD YOU HAVE TO READ THIS and while I found it enjoyable, I just wasn't bowled over.

ReignaFTW · May 24, 2018

Geez, the month is flying by. I think completing the rewrite of Act I in my busiest month of the year was rather ambitious, but I've at least put a dent in it. Will see what else I can knock out here in the last week. Upside, I did finish This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner. It wasn't as good as the first book in the trilogy, but glad I got through it this second time around (I started it last year and stopped halfway).

- Finish Act I rewrite of the WIP (about halfway...)
- Finish 1 book (X)

Kjbartolotta · May 24, 2018

This month has moved as slowly for me as Prince crawling across a bathroom floor covered in broken glass while crying. That's also my feels for May. (When Dove Cry reference, btw, in case you missed it)

[X] Start my SS:AMNG story.

mrsmig · May 26, 2018

Started rehearsals for my next show this week, which put a bit of a crimp in reaching some of my goals. Oddly, I did get a teensy bit of writing done - about 100 words - but for the first time in a while, I got that delicious tingle of total engagement with the story. Highly doubtful that I'll get anywhere close to reaching my goal in the final week of the month, but I'm going to see how much further I can get.

The weight-loss program really suffered during my ten days of vacation; I think a lot of the weight gain was just bloat, as I'm almost down to my pre-vacation weight again. Because I'm spending so much time commuting to and from rehearsal (the drive can take anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour and a half each way, depending on traffic), and because I was still very jet-lagged when I got home, I haven't been exercising much. I spent about 30 minutes hand-tilling the garden this week, but that was it.

On the up side, I completed my reading goal this morning - finished PAWN OF PROPHECY by David Eddings, which I took on as part of AW's annual Reading Challenge. I didn't care for it; it's a 30+ year-old fantasy with all the attendant tropes and ponderous writing associated with that era, when almost everyone was trying to out-Tolkien Tolkien. Needless to say I won't be continuing on with the series.

Another upside: my husband got me a Kindle Fire for my birthday, but when he realized that what I really wanted was a tablet with word-processing capability (so I don't have to drag my heavy old laptop to rehearsals if I want to write during my down time), he agreed to get me that instead. The one I want is currently on sale at my local computer store, but they're out of stock at the moment, so I'm waiting for the next shipment to come in. I'll have to get a keyboard cover for it, too, but I'm excited about the upgrade.

[ ] Write 10k fresh new words for Camp on my WIP (Book 5 of my fantasy series; starting count 13,519) - 13,721 out of 23,519
[x] Review 1st round edits on Book 4 DONE
[x] Read 3 books - 3 of 3 DONE
[ ] Lose 3 more pounds - 0 of 3
[ ] Get 30 minutes of exercise 3 times a week:
Week 1 - 3 of 3
Week 2 - 1 of 3
Week 3 - 1 of 3
Week 4 - 0 of 3

Tamlyn · May 26, 2018

I read Pawn of Prophecy as a child so I still enjoy it. I've found it's still a good gateway into fantasy - so if you're not a fantasy reader, you can enjoy it and then move onto more of a diverse range, but if you've read anything within the genre and try coming to it now, nope.

mrsmig · May 26, 2018

Tamlyn said:
I read Pawn of Prophecy as a child so I still enjoy it. I've found it's still a good gateway into fantasy - so if you're not a fantasy reader, you can enjoy it and then move onto more of a diverse range, but if you've read anything within the genre and try coming to it now, nope.

Which would be exactly my experience.

MayNoWriMo 2018 - For I Was Young And Loved

fish skeleton

Mi verkas

writing as Marina Costa

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree

Dedicated Lurker

a demon for tea

fish skeleton

Rogues, thieves, and knaves abound

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree

Making magic with words

Dedicated Lurker

fish skeleton

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

Potentially has/is dog

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

fish skeleton

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.