November Challenge - Write Every Day!

Day 8 (8 days left)
Driving by a bit because I was actually in bed, then remembered I had to check in! I started out with some brainstorming for breakfast, then spent a lot of time digging into background information (I'm writing a setting that's not my own), including reading stories set there, playing the computer game, and listening to the music. Just now before heading to bed I brainstormed some characters. Tomorrow I'll definitely have to draft some scenes. There's no time to let this one stew. I just gotta get as much rough draft out there as I can so I can patch it together as I go. It's been a good day, though; I've felt quite alive.

No words today, lots of thinking about where this story is headed next.

Day 8
New scene, 937 words.

Layla: Nice work. Reconnaissance shopping. Love that.

xenylic: Give yourself a break. That's a ton of work. You'll catch up!

April: Squelch that book! My beast is medieval so, venomous winged porcupine? Your beast wins.

The Second Moon: Way to go. Keep at it!

Taylor: Nice work. When my eyes get droopy, I stop mid-sentence.

Pterofan: 202 words ain't nothing. Get out of the way, Brain!

Magnus: I like your method.

ap123: Thinking counts. It better!

Hey, guys! Love the accountability idea. Figured I'd post my goals for the month.

I have two projects I want to complete. One rough draft and the final draft of a previous MS (I'll call them WIP & MS). Just finished draft 10 of the MS. Going to read it front to back within the next few days. Hit just over 56k for the WIP yesterday and have seven chapters left to write. Hoping to query the MS by January. I think aiming for PitMad on 12/6 might be rushing it. Hard to know when to stop touching it.

SecondMoon: Congrats for finishing!

Taylor: I’m pretty sure Ernest Hemingway said he did that. Mind you, he also said he wrote standing up, so you can’t really believe a word he says.

Pterofan: Still, 202 is something. The words never come at a regular pace for me – especially when I don’t have an outline.

Magnus: Sounds like you had an idea-packed day. Good luck with the drafting.

ap123: Sometimes writing is thinking.

WGough: Woo, go you! And I dunno…those spines would find a way to get past the fangs. I think they’d slaughter each other in battle.

Layla: It’s funny, since using my wee index cards this week to record ideas, I’ve realised how much I used to judge ideas. Now I write them all down, and ones I think are ‘wrong’ actually turn out to be useful. Well done for writing even though your routine was put out of joint. And yes, belts ARE expensive! I also have one. In order to put off buying another one I’ve been eating more and moving less

mwatchorn: Welcome! Good luck reaching your goals

I tried to hunt for a broad story outline yesterday, then realised I was still pushing too soon. But, the whole exercise of laying my index cards out on the floor helped generate a load more ideas. I have no clue when I’ll start drafting this thing. Trying to not think about that and instead enjoy this brainstorming phase.

Happy Friday, folks!

Day 8: Decent bit; 5.5 miles; mango beer

Another page and a half. Will probably take me a few more days to complete this story, but consistent momentum helps.

April, I know Hemingway poses for pictures in which he is standing at his typewriter. No way I could do that. My knees wouldn’t like it and I stand enough at my day job, ha ha.

Day 8 - another 200 words or thereabouts. Brain and I are still at an impasse, so I'm doing life stuff today. Can't promise the story will progress, but the house will be clean.

I may need to go to Plan B for a while and work on a different story. If all else fails, I can edit/revise the one I wrote last month.

DAY 8: 530 words exactly. I hand wrote them and had to type them all out.

Day 9
Revised one scene, 2,429 words. Drafted a new scene, 2,843 words. Eight chapters revised to date. Tired. Still moving too slowly to meet my deadline. Gah! I'm on track to finish revising Act I (yes, I'm trying the three act structure while actively hating it) tomorrow.

Question for my fellow writers: since revision is dancing on my neuroses, what do y'all think of seeking out a beta for feedback on Act I? I was determined not to beg for betas until I was finished revising Book I, but I've heard other writers beta at the chapter level. Don't have a critique partner or any writing buddies yet. Thoughts?

Layla: Nice work. Love your ethos re: judging and expectations. North Face goose down, ahhhhh, lovely! Belts are stupid expensive. I've got the one for my monochromatic wardrobe. I imagine your life is much more colorful.

mwatchornbooks: Welcome! Draft 10? Sheesh, I feel like a wastrel for whining about my 2nd? 3rd? I'm calling it a fourth draft. With newbie confidence, I will say, Stop touching it! Congrats on all your progress. Glad you're here.

April: Glad you're enjoying brainstorming. No stupid ideas. One craft book, James Scott Bell?, suggested writing the most outrageous scenarios you can think of, then pulling back a bit. He claims great ideas, scenes, plot-points come from just going nuts. I like it. Your dragon would totally scorch my porcupine's quills. I second eating more and moving less.

Taylor: Yay for momentum.

Pterofan: So envious that you can juggle multiple projects. Clean house? Would I then be required to interact with people in it?

The Second Moon: Great word count. I did a bit of typing into the Scrivener from the legal pad today. Seems to move really fast, and I get to revise at the same time. Need to do this more in future.

Have a great weekend, folks!

Taylor: Now I’m thinking he said he wrote lying down… Anyway, I’ve veered off track…well done writing a page and a half!

Pterofan: Plan Bs are there for a reason. Maybe you do need a wee breather from Plan A.

Second Moon: Good stuff.

WGough: Wait, what? You’re not moving slowly, you’re on FIYAHH! Re feedback, personally I wait til the thing’s done, but that’s because I’m a control freak. I can’t think of anything wrong with doing it at a chapter level. I think Layla asks the most important question: what’s gonna work best for you? That’s really sound advice from JSB. Thanks!

Layla: Yes! for half a page and YES! for Friday night movie night. Enjoy

The story continues to emerge from the primordial gloop. Played a bit too much PS4 yesterday, but I forced myself up a hill with my dictaphone. Some Thoughts were had.

Random aside: I just woke up and my dream consisted of me standing in a coffee shop, trying to decide which pastry to buy (they all looked delicious). I took so long deciding that in the end the pastries were all sold and I was left with a sad beige biscuit that tasted like sawdust. There’s a lesson to be learned here, folks.

Day 9: Decent bit; 9 miles; Oreo banquet

Day 9 (7 days left)
Sorry, didn't check in last night as I went right from writing to bed. I brainstormed some more then organised everything I had into some notes, then wrote half a scene and took some notes for a few more scenes. I'm not sure about the perspective yet, but just crunching out more rough drafts will be the goal over the weekend as I have a dire need for raw material to polish. I'm trying to keep the story simple, which is a good challenge for me as I have a tendency to overthink things.

DAY 9: Nothing new. Spent my writing time typing down my hand written words.

Another page and a half, even with company over! Only problem is that my fantasy has a distinct lack of magic, so I’ll have to fix that in subsequent drafts. Too much time spent on characters...

Love seeing everyone's progress!

For me:

Day 9--421 words
Day 10--567

Chapter 8 is done, woot!

Day 9 - 1418 words

Wahoo! Brain and I reached an accord and I wrote a different opening for a different story (same series). That may be how I have to do this: write scenes, chapters, maybe whole other books out of order and then at the end insert into the blender and try to make sense of it all. I can always sneak back to the first book and chip away at the problem scene when Brain isn't looking.

I have no trouble writing a series (books or stories) when it's a string of related stand-alones. I think it's the fear of having to tie seven books together in one huge story that's holding me back. The one I started last night was kind of an offshoot of the general concept and not intended to be part of the main storyline, and I had no trouble at all with it. Yet. I might be better off switching to a stand-alone story as my main project this month and fiddling with the series on the side.

April - I agree. Fortunately I do have a Plan B story on hand. Not that one up there; that's plan C. Plan D would be going back and revising the story I finished last month. Then Brain decided to distract me further by tossing me hints for a totally-new Plan E. This is why I have so much trouble actually writing: too much piled on the plate. My procrastination techniques have gotten sophisticated over the years.

BTW, I don't know about Hemingway, but I'm sure Stephen King said he wrote lying down at one point. It was after his van accident, when he had to lie on the floor for back support. I think he wrote the last three books in the Dark Tower series that way.

Well I cam down with some sort of sickness. I didn't go to work Friday and I didn't write thursday or friday because of it. I'm still feeling crappy, but got some writing in today. Only around 1,700 words but I'm onto Chapter 6 so still trucking away. I'm gonna go nap now.

Day 10
Revised a yicky flashback chapter. Tried to revise a second. Eyes itchy. It'll happen tomorrow.

Layla: Pre-meditated shopping and samurai movies. Can I borrow your life? Great question. I'm curious about the pacing of my work. Ya know, is it boring? I'm at the glazed-eye stage where I've looked at it so much, I can't tell if I'm writing in circles. Typical writer's anxiety stuff. Broke my stop whining rule. Thanks for your thoughtful response!

April: Need me one of them Dictaphones. Your dream is a lovely, terrifying metaphor. You're right. Finish the damned thing before handing over the blue pencil. Thank you!

Magnus: Way to work it! Solid plan.

The Second Moon: New, shmew. Nice work.

Taylor: Too much time spent on characters? No such thing. And if your story works without the magic, why not? Some fantasy, as you may well know, has none.

ap123: Way to go!

Pterofan: Sneaky Brain. Never too many plans. I write in bed. Don't think that's the same. And terrible for your back.

KayMitch: Feel better!

Day 10 (6 days left)
Again, forgot to check in last night. I was at a party for most of the evening so got home late, but I scrathed the old first scene for being too jovial and funny and it was the wrong perspective (omniscient narrator was just too far away). So I wrote a new starting scene that feels more in tune with the theme, and now I just have to keep building from that. Preferably I need a rough draft by tomorrow, so lots of work to do. I'm up late and a little tired because even a few beers slows me down these days, but at least I kept that well in check or I'd be out for the day.

Keep at it everyone! I'll try to remember to check in again tonight.

Got another page done.

Today millions of people looked at their watches and thought, "It'll all be over soon."

RIP to the ten million dead, the countless maimed, and may God have mercy on those who didn't learn.

Day 10 - 360 words

Damn Brain threw me a curve last night. That standalone book I started? It's part of the main series now. Brain handed me the whole basic plot. On top of that, a throwaway character I created in the opening is now important, and may even get her own book once the main series is finished. I know who she ends up with, too. Dear Lord, it never ends.

This is all just a distraction so I don't have to go back to that blocked scene. Back in the Cretaceous (i.e., the 1970s) there was a Doonesbury strip where the college football hero gleefully announces he's volunteered to go to Vietnam to get out of writing a term paper. Last night Brain offered to ship me to Vietnam to get out of writing the first book. What the heck, might as well run with it. Writing is writing, and it all proves useful eventually.

WGough, you’re right, but without magic I have no good explanation for one character being immortal...and no magic means the story becomes a historical piece.

I took the day off from writing, and feel surprisingly not guilty.