September 2020 Challenge - Write Every Day!

April: Awesome job on the 2k+ words
Layla: It's crazy that our smoke has made it all the way to the east coast. Stay safe indoors!
Keithy: You're almost at the beta reading stage! How exciting
Carrie: 1940 is still great progress!
Cindy: "Non-standard" characters like that might not always display correctly depending on the platform. idk what sort of Unicode encoding (if any) query submission platforms use, or email scanning robots at big companies, or anything like that. So be prepared for that potential headache down the road
Ice: *hug* There's blue skies today, which is nice

Day the 15th late again: 1,629

I was migraine-y again so I hid in the dark but it got better later in the evening so I started writing and boy did I write! I finished chapter 36...so it is Big Bad Final Ultimate Chapter Time! I already know that stuff is going to be chopped up and rearranged; ch 36 ends right before the big bad arrives and then 37 starts backwards in time a bit. But by making these bigger chapters in the first draft it's easier to write them.

In not-writing, the pet bird had some suspiciously mussed up feathers and we were worried it could be discharge from an ear infection. We helped him clean up and kept an eye on him and today he seems okay. He probably had some pinfeathers that were annoying him and he was trying to dunk his head to help removing them. Also the sky is blue today! It's light grey along the horizon and gets progressively blue-r the higher up it is. The AQI is pretty good, but now Tahoe and Nevada are dealing with it. Still really bad in Portland.

- - - Updated - - -

April: Awesome job on the 2k+ words
Layla: It's crazy that our smoke has made it all the way to the east coast. Stay safe indoors!
Keithy: You're almost at the beta reading stage! How exciting
Carrie: 1940 is still great progress!
Cindy: "Non-standard" characters like that might not always display correctly depending on the platform. idk what sort of Unicode encoding (if any) query submission platforms use, or email scanning robots at big companies, or anything like that. So be prepared for that potential headache down the road
Ice: *hug* There's blue skies today, which is nice

Day the 15th late again: 1,629

I was migraine-y again so I hid in the dark but it got better later in the evening so I started writing and boy did I write! I finished chapter 36...so it is Big Bad Final Ultimate Chapter Time! I already know that stuff is going to be chopped up and rearranged; ch 36 ends right before the big bad arrives and then 37 starts backwards in time a bit. But by making these bigger chapters in the first draft it's easier to write them.

In not-writing, the pet bird had some suspiciously mussed up feathers and we were worried it could be discharge from an ear infection. We helped him clean up and kept an eye on him and today he seems okay. He probably had some pinfeathers that were annoying him and he was trying to dunk his head to help removing them. Also the sky is blue today! It's light grey along the horizon and gets progressively blue-r the higher up it is. The AQI is pretty good, but now Tahoe and Nevada are dealing with it. Still really bad in Portland.

Layla: Nice work getting words on top of mega-shift. (And yay, cookies!)

Keithy: When you said your house’s past was disturbing I immediately assumed there’d been a mass murder or something. Hope it all gets sorted. We had a leak here yesterday. House dramas are the pits.

Carrie: Yeah it is mad what goes on in the cognitive basement. I wish it would share more of its wisdom with me! Hope that Ah ha moment is about to show. And 1940 words is awesome!

Cindyt: Mmm … cake!

ice: I’m so sorry—I can’t imagine what that’s been like for you. Great job on that 1k though.

sandree: Do you use the index card feature on Scrivener? I like that for figuring out structure.

Chase: Excellent wordage, and so glad the skies are blue! Long may they last.

Slow going today, just couldn’t get in the groove. BUT I did drag my bum to 1826. Hoping for a good snooze tonight and some peppiness tomorrow.

Drive By:

Deleted a third scene and lost 3000 words overall, back down to 116,500 with no loss to the story, woohoo!

Worked toward goal #1 (properly chapter-ize the manuscript)

Also brainstormed a change to the heist sequence that I think will work better than what I have. That'll be the focus of tomorrow's work.

Chase - "Cindy: "Non-standard" characters like that might not always display correctly depending on the platform. idk what sort of Unicode encoding (if any) query submission platforms use, or email scanning robots at big companies, or anything like that. So be prepared for that potential headache down the road."

What does this statement have to do with either of my WIPs?

Day 15 - 955 words.

I'm writing a new adult WIP based on a game me and my sister used to play as children. It was about these cloned animals trying to just live life in a world ruled by animals, but ending up going on crazy adventures. I've fine-tuned the story to make it more suitable for adult audiences.

DAY 16-----419 words. Plot took a slight change, and I'm struggling to wade through.

Greetings!

Cindy—More amazing research. Question: what percentage of this do you think finds its way into the text and what percentage is background for you to write with more assurance? I’m just curious because your research is so interesting.

Icedesparado—No major “Ah ha!” today but I wrote anyway, darn it! I am just heartsick about the fires and hope you are doing well. I will do a rain dance but make no promises.

Sandree—A brand new project! Verrrrry exciting.

The grumpiness has more or less passed, but I still feel I’m on the edge of some sort of realization or another. It’s an odd feeling but I’m learning to recognize it. 2290 words for the day and I finally straightened out the giant mess that was chapter ten. I just had so many people on the move at the same time it became a traffic issue, but I think I covered all my bases. I had to add a scene in the middle and cut a scene from the end (to move into chapter eleven) and now things are a lot more orderly.

I am off on my hike. There are days when my brain needs it more than my legs and today is one of them. I hope everyone is having a splendid writing day.

Chase - well into the 1K club, great going. I try and get in it at least once a week.
April - 1826 is well beyond me most days! Hat doffings sent your way.
Woolybear - removing unwanted fat is pretty good. But make sure you keep the old versions.
Second moon - that sounds like fun!
Starry storm - yeah, I know all about plot changes (see Demon hunter)
Carrie - busy you too! 2290 is great.

I managed 746 words on Dustworld today.

Nothing done in the house today, the guy doing it had to stay home because his son was sick. Don’t know if it was CV-19.

very tired, need to go for a walk but so busy.

Keithy, nice work with the words and the reading, and the house-project
Carrie - wtg with the 1940 words
Cindy, congrats on the 274
ice, wow. I didn't realized it was a whole month. Wow. And nice work on getting 1123 words down
sandree, nice work!
Chase, congrats on the 1629! & give your bird a kiss from me or a scratch or somehthing
April, that's some successful dragging!
Woolly - excellent
Moon, congrats on the 955
starry, nice work
Carrie, way to go!
Keithy, congrats on the 746




Day 16 - chilly again this morning. Six days (?) of Summer left


WIP - added words
R/SC - made a batch of stew for my work lunches; heard from the ballet teacher, there is an opening in the Friday class; swimming - got to play with a 6 year old girl who wanted to see if I could do all the things she could (can you stand on your hands? can you stand on one hand? wanna jump up and down where its deeper?) That was fun
BP/$$ - started unpacking some old/sentimental papers to deal with, then got a housemate inquiry who might want to see the place tomorrow, so I had to put it away again and re-'stage' the place. Finished and submitted the online application


I am exhausted

Day 16:

15 minutes on the WIP
Multiple hours (didn't think to count) critiquing for the writer's group I'm in.

Having a day off from the baby today. To be clear, he's my nephew, not my kid. Pretty awesome little guy, though!


Chase: Better some than none! And oh hey, you did great on the 15th! After a migraine, no less!

April: Nice wordcount... aaaand again, very nice!

Layla: Yay words, both days! Hope you can get some rest...

Keithy: Yay words! If the baby were here I'd say "hi" on his behalf...

Carrie: Not a bad count, even if it wasn't easy... and "tomorrow" was indeed better! Nicely done!

Cindy: Nice job finishing a chapter! Some interesting research too.. and some excitement! And cake! Busy day!

(I'm just embracing my overuse of exclamation points at this point.)

icedesperado: Nice wordcount! And that sounds unpleasant for sure... I hope they're right and it gets better soon.

Sandree: I figure it's 15 minutes more than I'd write otherwise. Glad things are coming together for you!

Woollybear: Cutting those words like nobody's business! Here's to heists and chapters!

The Second Moon: Yay words! And new projects!

starrystorm: Keep on slogging, you're getting there!

Day 16

Word Count - 110

Research -

• Sound of a ventilator. Steady whoosh, pause, whoosh, pause. (I found this on AW.)
• Noises in a hospital ICU room. Heart monitor beeping, turning of feeding tube system.

Dress Her in Chameleon - Spot edited Chapters 22 - 24.

A Deadly Spill of Scarlet - Added words and edited more. Billy is surfacing from his coma.

Moon - Love the new WIP. That game sounds like one I would have fashioned just for me to play in my huge backyard.

Keithy - Praying it’s not covid 19.
Morgan - Nice going on the critique.

April - Nice going!

Carrie - How much of my research I use in text depends on the topic. I’d say on maybe 1%. Maybe 5% on narrative. And 94% on background to immerse myself into the era, and capture my POV’s perceptions, though I do not dump. For instance, I read up on how to tell time via the stars for the line “It was midnight according to the stars” to get into JD Holly’s head.

Layla - WTG on the added words. I’ll be glad when October comes around.

Cindy: Grats on the words and research!
Morgan: Way to go on writing and critiquing!
Layla: Stew sounds like the perfect autumn dish. I'm always inspired by your baking and cooking. What's your favorite dish(es) to make?
Keithy: Hugs, I hope you get some rest!
Starry: The plot struggle is real. I hope you find some clarity soon.
Second Moon: How fun! Have a good time writing it!

Day 16
1,126 words

The sky was blue today and the air quality was breathable for the first time in a month! My husband went out for a run, and I went out for two walks. It honestly feel so surreal right now to even be outside. My brain is so confused.

Day 16 - 363 words

The power was out until around 3 in the afternoon, so I didn't get much writing done. However, I did get in a lot of reading

Ice - A month? Wow!

Cindy - Actually we used plastic animal figurines. I still have them because I couldn't dare part with such fun memories.

Morgan - Way to go with the critiquing.

Layla - Your day at the pool with that girl sounds so wholesome.

Keithy - Yikes I hope it isn't COVID .

Carrie - Walking helps me too, but it had been so rainy I haven't been able to.

Starry - We're cheering for you.

Woolly: Hurrah for chopping!

Second: Nice work! You always seem to have so many ideas on the go. I’m jealous!

starry: Good luck with the wading.

Carrie: Excellent wordage! Enjoy the hike.

Keithy: Eek, hope it’s not the lurgy. Nice effort on Dustworld.

Layla: That’s a busy day—excellent wordage on top of that.

Morgan: I use far more exclamation points in this thread than I do in real life. Honest!

Cindyt: Excellent work all round!

ice: Hurrah for blue skies! So glad it’s starting to clear where you are.

Another snoozy day today, but forced myself to 2137. I’m just getting to know some characters at this stage.

Like The Second Moon, by power was out until an mid afternoon too. Only got 384.

April: Awesome progress!
Wooly: Wow! Way to trim the fat
Cindy: You said how in research you looked up the spelling for Tân Sơn Nhất*, so I assumed that you were going to put that into one of your WIPs
Second Moon: Sounds interesting!
Starry: Even wading, you're still moving forward. It might take some time to figure it out and that's okay!
Carrie: Great wordage! And enjoy your hike!
Keithy: Between writing and the housework you sound always busy, I hope you can find time for a small break.
Layla: The pool sounds so nice! I guess you don't have the same restrictions about it like we have here.
Morgan: That's a lot of critiquing! That's awesome that you have a group like that
Ice: Yeah it was really nice yesterday! Good word count, too!

16th: 926 words

Maybe one of these days I'll stop writing before midnight and I'll post on time. A decent chunk of those words was a footnote that discussed different species, hybrids, phenotypes...and the conversation between the characters ended up being sorta world building info dump-y. That'll get smoothed out in editing and put in more logical places. I also was thinking of stuff while trying to fall asleep; I had some sort of good idea and I didn't want to get out of bed to get my phone to write it down. I thought I'd remember it, but of course I didn't. All I remember was that it was "round," whatever that means.

- - - Updated - - -

April: Awesome progress!
Wooly: Wow! Way to trim the fat
Cindy: You said how in research you looked up the spelling for Tân Sơn Nhất*, so I assumed that you were going to put that into one of your WIPs
Second Moon: Sounds interesting!
Starry: Even wading, you're still moving forward. It might take some time to figure it out and that's okay!
Carrie: Great wordage! And enjoy your hike!
Keithy: Between writing and the housework you sound always busy, I hope you can find time for a small break.
Layla: The pool sounds so nice! I guess you don't have the same restrictions about it like we have here.
Morgan: That's a lot of critiquing! That's awesome that you have a group like that
Ice: Yeah it was really nice yesterday! Good word count, too!

16th: 926 words

Maybe one of these days I'll stop writing before midnight and I'll post on time. A decent chunk of those words was a footnote that discussed different species, hybrids, phenotypes...and the conversation between the characters ended up being sorta world building info dump-y. That'll get smoothed out in editing and put in more logical places. I also was thinking of stuff while trying to fall asleep; I had some sort of good idea and I didn't want to get out of bed to get my phone to write it down. I thought I'd remember it, but of course I didn't. All I remember was that it was "round," whatever that means.

For whatever reason, I'm driving by again to say how quickly more words are getting cut, and cut, and cut.

Trying to wrench in exercise #8 from the emotional craft book, which is basically a matter of highlighting the central arc of the MC from the emotional angle at four discrete points in the story. Do it by showing how they take a small detail and use that to frame their central question. For the main MC in this book, that means 'family.'

But hopscotching to those four spots, means I'm reading random chapters out of order and finding lots of unneeded words. Overwritten voice, mostly. I love seeing the word count go back down, while the arcs grow clearer.

Chase: strange how that happens - when you're sure you will remember but it escapes you later.

Layla: I enjoy hearing about your life. Used to do ballet until I got too old and creaky for it.

April: Yes just figured out how to use the index cards after several trips to google to look it up. Scrivener is about 500% more powerful than the parts that I use.

Woolybear: You sound close to the end. Congrats on chopping words. I'm always trying to add so that's not a problem I'm familiar with!

Second Moon and Starry: hope everything is OK with the power outages.

icedesperado: happy to hear about blue skies - and more words...

morganr: are you in an online group? I did a lot on Critique Circle for a while but haven't been on there lately

I rewrote my blurb. I paid a lot to have someone "expert" write it and I think they did a pretty bad job. Fiddled with the outline - added more scenes. Changed my avatar. Great way to waste time. Hmmm...

Greetings, September Troupers!

Keithy—Great work! What genre are you writing?

Layla—That sounds like a very full day.

Morgan—Great work, once again. I envy your writers group.

Cindyt—Thanks for the answer! What genre are you writing?

Icedesparado—Good words and so glad you can finally get outside.

Second Moon—Power out! Sorry about that. I had internet troubles but that doesn’t really slow writing.

April—Great word count! I find it harder to add words at the beginning because there is so much to learn.

Starrystorm—MORE power outages? I don’t think I’ve experienced an extended power outage since I lived in Nigeria. But then I had a little generator on my balcony to tide me over.

Chase—You gotta get one of those light-up pens, I’m telling you, they save all my middle-of-the-night ideas. It’s a tiny light, but just enough to write by. I fill up notebooks using mine.

WoolyBear—Cutting can be very satisfying. I’ve noticed I do a lot of wheel spinning right before a particularly dramatic scene. I am unsure how much build-up I need, and I also think I am sometimes just a little afraid to dive in.

Sandree—Sorry you didn’t get your money’s worth on the blurb. I admit, I am deeply skeptical about paying for anything. Or perhaps “cheap” is a better word!

I had a fine day and pulled out of the remainder of my funk. As usual, the answer is writing. 2850 words today and I am committed to getting enough of this book done in September so I can participate in NaNoWriMo. I have no terrifically strong reason I have to do it, I just think it would be a great experience. Chapter eleven is done, and chapter twelve is started, which means I’m close to having half a book. Huzzah!

Driveby, sorry. I did the things

Cindy - you could have asked me, the wife uses a CPAP machine every night, which is similar.
Icedesperado - nice 1K club there.
StarryStorm and secondmoon - sending power.
April - ooh a lot of words there. I need to get to that amount more often.
sandree - good luck with the blurb

Today’s progress
1124 words written on Dustworld.

Did a bit of reading of the third draft of Demon Hunter. I’m still not satisfied

Honestly, I’m very tired and very busy and a bit fed up with my slow progress And the renovation is dragging on too long.

Day 17

15 minutes on the WIP, plus some thinking about the next draft. Going to finish this one first, but very eager to move on!

Aaaand driving by, because baby. Well done to those with word counts, positive or negative, or other useful work! And if you didn't meet your goals, better luck tomorrow!

Day 17

Word Count - 371

Research - How to prepare a cigar to smoke

A Deadly Spill of Scarlet - I edited some scenes featuring one of the serial killer victims, Dade County Homicide Detective Eugene Eddy.

ice - Excellent word count!

Moon - I mostly played being Dorthy Gale, and used a broomstick horse while riding with Roy Rogers.

Keithy - Who knew? My mother was on one, but I can hear.

April - Awesome word count!

Carrie - It boils down to historical romance thrillers, with the thrillers being crime

Layla - WTG on the added words. I’ll be glad when October comes around.

Chase - Oooh. Well, Billy is fluent in Vietnamese, so when he thinks in that language (and the other languages he knows), he sees the accent marks. I do the same thing when a foregn word crosses my mind, like “voilà.” Plus, I’m a fussbudget. No worry about publishing since I’m publishing it myself on my own ebook website.


I got a late start and didn’t even touch Chameleon today due to a horrible case of Chinese food poisoning. And then, while trying to fight it, I watched Tasty videos about making soup. Don’t ever do that.

I RETURN FROM THE DEAD

So yeah, my daughter started online schooling on the 8th and my brother held his tiny pandemic house wedding on the 12th and in hindsight I have no idea what made me think I'd be remotely productive that week. I was worn out enough from wedding running (we were trying really hard to make it special for them in spite of everything, and in my family "make it special" means "make enough food for a small army" and then I did the setup so they wouldn't have to and it turns out basically catering even a small wedding is a lot of work?! WHO KNEW) that I lost the first part of this week too. Add to that two scenes I had to give up and admit I wasn't ready to write yet, and a scene I ground out about 500 words on before realizing it simply wasn't working in its current form and I didn't yet know how to fix it, and...

HOWEVER, I finally managed to finish a scene yesterday, and I'm determined to get myself back on track and accountable here.

I've only halfway been following the thread, so a driveby "good job everyone" until I can catch up properly!

Day 19 -- 0 words I probably won't get any writing time today either because of school work. School work is the worst!