February 2020 Challenge - Write Every Day, Better Late Than Never Edition!

Day 25

Drive by.

Gang! So glad this place is back up and running (though I guess I got a bit slack with checking for updates ...)

Anyway, since my last check-in, I've proofed the book I was working on last year and am about 31k into its sequel. My goals for Feb were to finish reading aloud book one (done) and write 40k for book two. I've got 9k still to do between now and Saturday so I better get cracking.

Will be back proper tomorrow

Good to see you Cindy, keep on keeping on
SWANSON!!! Good to see you too! You got some stuff done, gel!
Magnus, you had great day!




Day 26 -


WIP - a generous 1/2 page
R/SC - chores, errands; ordered some nice tea
BP/$$ - skip day

Thanks everyone! This looks like a nice place.

Today has been a real slog. I finally realized it is because none of the characters have scene goals. ( See? I eventually learn around here. The characters need goals. ) So I added a plot point to gives the antagonist a goal. And even as I am typing I am remembering that he needs to *act* toward his goal, so that means he needs to do stuff.

Heheh. Getting there slowly. Maybe 500 words, after a day full of sitting and staring.

Also did a 'thing' on a book club podcast this morning, which was loads of fun. And I managed about thirty minutes of weights/aerobics.

Lady Red, Patty - welcome aboard our merry ship.
April - welcome back
Magnus - hear hear!

OK I forgot to check in yesterday. So my numbers are 315 yesterday and 615 today on Fire Witch. The gang have been having a near-argument about what to do with the mcguffin. They decide to visit the Vatican Library, hoping that will lead them to a solution. Then the man in the party heads off on his own.

I also did some work on an outline for "Dustworld" (that's a working title). It's got airships! Yay!

keep on sailing (Arrgh me hearties) or swimming...

@Layla, Yup, I was here before It's good to be back!
@Patty, I feel like figuring out character goals has done more to help my writing this past year than anything else. Before then, my stories were well-written, but not very interesting lol
@Keithy, Thanks! Sounds like your writing is going well ^_^
@Magnus, It sounds like you had a really full, well-rounded day

Day 26
I got my three pages of edits done for the day and I'm surprised at how fiddly the whole thing is right now. My word count isn't going down, but I'm liking how the words are fitting in place. I've finished my homework early, so I'm hoping to have them done and to a beta-reader who I trust sometime tomorrow. I also got 207 new words written

Magnus: Sounds like a very productive day to me. Glad to hear the practice is paying off

LAYLA! Generous 1/2 page and nice tea? Excellent! What kinda tea? I just bought some pure chamomile in a bid to calm my eczema. I think it’s actually working …

Patty: Welcome Oh, those sloggy days! 500 words is a crackin’ way to beat the blank page. And yeah, I usually find if I’m stuck it’s cos my characters don’t want to do anything.

Keithy: Nice work! Most of what I know about airships I’ve learned from Studio Ghibli films.

LadyRed: Nice work editing and getting new words down. Liking how the words fit in place is definitely what we’re all shooting for

I got 4121 today, which leaves me 3800 to write before the end of the week. I’m fast coming up to another big blank bit where I have no idea what happens, but I’m hoping I can hit my monthly goal before I get there. Some lengthy descriptions and unnecessary dialogue may be required

Day 27: Decent bit; 6 miles; ice cream rescue

@April, I'm always in awe of the amount of work that you get done in a day! Congratulations and good luck on the blank bit!

Day 27

Had a little extra time today and finished up edits on draft 3. I then went to a beta reader's and read the story to them. We noticed one spot that needed some work, but she said something that really made me happy about my progress as a writer. About 3/4 of the way through, she apologized about not being able to offer much critique and said it was because she kept getting lost in the story! Coming from a respected reader who doesn't read fantasy often, it felt like exceedingly high praise

Day 26

Word Count - 55

Growing Up Buford Blog - Pondering the topic of my next article. I’ve just about covered what I’m willing to share. I’ve thought about creating another blog for short stories. Hmmm

Revisions - The crime novel

Patty - Hey! Congrats on the 500 words!

Lady Red - Congrats on the revisions and word count

Magnus - I’ve noticed the focus. WTG!

April - Hey, you! Congrats for finishing that book, and good luck on the sequel and the reading deadline! And dig that 4121 word count!

Layla - ½ page is generous indeed.

Keithy - Respectable word counts! Good luck with Dustworld.

Patty, nice work with the 500, and the other things
Keithy, way to go
Lady, congrats on the edits and the 207 new words
Well. Dang. April. Slaying, as usual. wtg. I got peach tea, blackcurrent tea and some good old Assam. Arrived today! Chamomile, huh? I’ve kind of given up cheese because I’m waking up with my face hugely puffy and it seems to have helped. This makes me sad because I love cheese
Magnus, nice work. Keep it up . I think I’m doing pretty good with my routines but I still have the problem of when I have a challenging mental state, it’s all I can do the make it through the days and get in the bare minimum. But I’m definitely way ahead of where I was before.
Hey Cindy - wtg with that 55. Hmmm that strange freedom when you come to the end of a project...




Day 27


WIP - Something. Had a surprise in the morning and couldn’t get in my wake-up writing time, but I managed *something* at the end of the day.
R/SC - housemate interview
BP/$$ - earning service, wee bit of performance practice

LadyRedRover - sounds like you are doing very well!
Patty - ah, I can tell you all about sitting and staring.
Cindy &Layla - lots of hard work going on there.

OK it's not been such a brilliant day. I only did 145 words today. I'm not sure how to get my characters from Southern France to the Vatican. If I describe some of the journey, something interesting and relevant has to happen. Or else I can "teleport" them. I can see myself putting this back into outlining to get the second half of the book re-plotted.

If that is so, I have other projects to concentrate on. Fishy Tail (the mermaid story) is high on the list.

Keep on sailing, ah-ha me hearties.

Day 27

Word Count - 819

Research - nautical words, word origins, 1985 TV screens, Miami’s rep. Van Halen music video: Running With the Devil, which fit the scene like a glove. Vurtual tour of Villa Vizcaya in Miami, Fl., pump organs.

Historical - Revised and polished Chapter 12 of Part Three: In the Belly of Leviathan.

Crime Novel - Revised a bit over one section of Chapter 12

Lady Red - Congrats on good day!

Magnus - Good luck!

Layla - Eating junk food causes me to be depressed, but I think this time it’s coupled with my article block. There are things I could write about. Boring things and things I’ll probably take to my grave--unless my baby sister dies first, and I don’t want that to happen so I can let loose another juicy story.

Keithy - Good luck with the relocation. The teleport option sounds

LadyRed: Thank you But bear in mind I’m a full-time writer! Yay for praise! It’s so nice when we receive positive feedback.

Cindyt!: Good luck with your blog ponderings. I’ve attempted so many blogs down the years and have always given up, so good for you for sticking with it.

Layla: Yeah, dairy seems to be a problem for a lot of people. Ooo they all sound lovely, especially the peach tea. Have to say I’m enjoying the chamomile. I never tried it before because it always sounded medicinal to me (was probably getting mixed up in my head with calamine lotion, which I remember all too well from my chicken pox days). Yay for something! I hope the morning surprise wasn’t too disorienting.

Keithy: Interrailing? Anyway, 145 is still better than nothing.

I got 2863, which leaves me a wee bit to do tomorrow. WIP is sitting at 42,044 so it’s ticking along nicely

Day 28: Decent bit; 3 miles; character growth

Cindy - good going with the 819 and all that revising and research. Very busy!
April - ooh 2863 is a mighty word count indeed, worthy of much hat doffing and many obeisances.

OK... I sort of decided to put "Fire Witch" on hold because I hit a roadblock on that and I've been itching to start "Fishy Tail". So I did 1004 words on the latter, despite many interruptions from someone I'm married to (grrr).
Kaylee the Mermaid had just arrived on a California beach and swapped her tail for legs for the first time in her life. She's kinda unsteady on her legs at first. Then she comes across "Granny's House" and gets invited in.

Research:

California maritime geography and climate.
US road markings.

Non Writing:

Swimming!

Keep on sailing me hearties!

Cindy, an excellent day of 4 Here’s to some flowing words
w00t April, a great day, nearly 3K
Likewise, Magnus, sounds like it was a good day
Keithy, nice work getting in 1004 words!




Day 28


WIP - 1/2 page
R/SC - got groceries, did some chores
BP/$$ - monthly calendar review, some research & brainstorming for on of my indy projects

Keithy--the Vatican library??? That sounds fantastic. I want to see something fun at sea. My vote is to have a short little vignette at sea. With something fun. Like a torrid encounter or a murder most foul. But teleporting is fun, too, even the metaphorical kind. Oh! You are switching projects. Fishy tail sounds good too, but I want to know how she switches back and forth! I'm so demanding.

LRR: I wish I was editing. of course when I am editing I always wish I was drafting. Enjoy your edits! Also--so glad you are getting good feedback.

April--your approach sounds like mine. Try to write decent words, otherwise... Dialog! Maybe they know what happens! Coz I sure don't. And your word count is an inspiration. Your ongoing word count is an inspiration. FWIW we are around the same point in our WIPs--I am sitting at around 50K and it looks like you are too.

Magnus--you set a good model to follow. Discipline, baby! You rock.

Cindy--likewise congrats on the 55 words! And on the 819 words. My bet is they are good words. I long to write good words.

Layla--sorry to hear about the cheese issue. i mean that. Dairy and cheese are amazing, and I try tp avoid them because yeah, inflammation and stuff. Some people claim that goat cheese is easier on the system...? Also, good job on the groceries, no sarcasm there, you're balancing all the stuff. Not me. We have wine and sausages in the house. What else is needed? I mean, nothing, except maybe chips.

So I've had a couple slow days and am 1100 words behind where I need to be. I'll try to make them up tomorrow. I had an invitation to speak at a local university (Caltech) today, and that took my energies yesterday (prep) and today. Then I caught up with some old friends over there. So, a full day thing and frankly draining. And, the commute back and forth, yuck. On the plus side there's an exotic butcher near Pasadena, so I picked up some elk and venison on the way home.

Anyway, Zero words but if I can write 2700 tomorrow I will still be on track. And I have no other commitments tomorrow. Onward!

Finished the final edit on my short story (I hope!) Dad and I went out to my favorite Vietnamese place to celebrate ^_^

Now, to send it in and start the next one!

Day 28

Word Count - 445

Research - Bloody Mary bars, antique armories with carved tops. I ended up creating my own: a mahogany with an eagle in flight top. Name of an ancient wall tapestry with Judeo and Christian images. Again, I ended up creating my own: a brown and golden Commodore. Types of marble tiles and table tops

Crime Novel - Finished revising chapter 12 and part of chapter 13.

April - The prob with a short story blog is, I don’t like to write short stories. I’m going going to study up on the craft--if I ever get a spare moment from the novels, reading, and sleeping. WTG on the ticking!

Patty - Good luck writing tomorrow! I do hope one or two sentences are good. Lol. Sounds like you had quite the day. I grew up in a small town with no exotic butchers, but hunter friends often gave us venison steaks and haunches. I’ve always wanted to sample a cut of buffalo and bear meat. Must be the Cherokee blood in me.

Lady Red - WTG on finishing the short story and good luck on the publication.

Magnus - WTG on your progress!

Layla - Half page! Good on you!

Keithy - Great word count. I know all about spousal interruptions. Mine thought nothing about doing it, but got pissed off when I butted in on his soccer game watching.

It was one of those days when I got a late start and my monitor screen froze oft as not. Boo! Windows is not supposed to run updates on 7, but they did two weeks after the January 14 deadline. They may be doing it again.

Magnus: Good luck with the wrangling!

Keithy: Have fun with Kaylee and her fishy adventures. 1k is a great start.

Layla: Woop woop for 1/2 page

Patty: I love dialogue! It’s all the bits in between I struggle with. Good luck catching up! Hopefully your characters can fill in the blanks for you

LadyRed: Amazing work! Congratulations to you

Cindyt: Yeah I can’t do short stories either. I don’t enjoy reading them, which is the problem. Great job with words and research (I’m deeply intrigued by Bloody Mary bars!).

1252 in the bag, which brings my WIP up to 43, 296 and my Feb count to 40, 271 so mission accomplished Bring on March!

Day 29: Decent bit; mystery miles; run rabbit run

Hello! I woke up needing to write 2800 to get back on track for my March 7th RL accountability goal. I have almost 2000 down and believe I will hit it--but want to take a quick break here to state the goal. I think it will help.

By the end of the day i still need 867 more words.

(Cindy--the elk sausage was so good. Turns out it was a blend with pork and beef too, but it had a unique flavor none the less. I've never had bear meat. We do have a lot of bison meat in some of the stores here.)

(I think i will make it... this chapter is not too hard ...)


Aaaannnddddd.... Done! 2800 today--the best day of the past couple weeks. I need 9K more by next saturday but will put those efforts under March.

Thank you for the virtual support, April and Cindy, Magnus and LRR, Layla and Keithy and all!

Lady - congrats on that FINISHING and a fun dinner!
Cindy congrats on that 445 and the other things. Interesting research!
April, go you! Congrats on that 1252! (I don’t enjoy reading short stories either. Good to know there’s other’s out there)
w0000t! Patty - way to word! Congrats on meeting that 2800 goal






Day 29


WIP - a scant 1/2 page
R/SC - cooking
BP/$$ - earning service

I took it easy today. Updated my various trackers and wrote 130 new words. I also took the opportunity to get some much needed cleaning and cooking done. It felt like a nice reset before March

@April Swanson, Mystery miles??
@Patty, Congratulations on hitting your goal today!
@Layla Nahar, Thank you!! The dinner was great. ^_^ They have HUGE bowls of veggie pho with tofu that is divine. Congratulations on making progress with your goals

Thanks everyone for all the support this month! I can't wait to see how everyone does in March