Serial September - 500 words a day writing/editing - all genres welcome!

onesecondglance

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The villainous September killer has claimed August as its victim, and here we are, the embattled detective who can't let the case go, who just won't give up. Whether you're just trying to stay one step ahead, or meeting the monster on their own turf, it's all good - we just need to make it through to October.

Log your case notes/progress here, and with enough coffee and enough long nights we'll solve this thing...
 

onesecondglance

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They say April's the cruellest month. So what's that make August? Guess the poet never figured that. I knocked off the big one last month, sent it out for review, so I gotta bide my time 'til that comes back. Meantime I started to pull together some old threads, see if they make a new case or just a mess o' nuthin.


*coughs in grizzled PI*


Crikey, what was that? I must have had some noir stuck in my throat. To translate: I hit my goal last month! I finished the WIP and got it out to betas. I'm thinking about next projects, now - I'll probably go back and fix up some other stuff I never finished rather than embarking on anything brand new. So my goals for this month are fairly relaxed: just make it through and don't stop working.

How about you? How did your August go? What are you planning for September, if anything? :)
 

lizmonster

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I didn't get much done in August. But I did learn that some medication I'm taking has the lovely side effect of rendering me pretty much incapable of writing. I've adjusted the time of day I'm taking the stuff, and so far so good.

For September: I'm going to try to hit 2K/day, with the goal of finishing a draft in September/October so I can spend NaNoWriMo on a brand-new project. Part of that will be hopefully showing up here more often. :)

This morning I wrote 2,006 words, which I figure isn't a terrible start.

Go, team! :e2cheer:
 

TulipMama

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I didn't have any hard and fast goals for August, just an attempt to steadily maintain my progress in editing my own gritty crime novel, which I think I did an okay job of actually, copy editing 20-ish chapters (65,000 words?) over the month.

I think I'll aim to have it edited to the point I can feel almost comfortable giving it to to a Beta Reader. I only have 3 more chapters and an epilogue to go over for spelling, grammar etc, then it's all about that scene cutting baby!

Maybe if I'm feeling ambitious I'll get started on book 2 in this series.
 

lizmonster

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:hi: all!

I broke 2K yesterday, but no words today because Thursday is Grocery Shopping Day and I can't do anything creative on Grocery Shopping Day.

Tomorrow: moar words! And a short crit for one of my crit partners. (I love my crit partners. They kill way more characters than I do. :e2chain:)
 

Saoirse

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Welcome TulipMama!

::cheers all progress::

Um, where'd August go? I went to update and discovered this thread. I'm losing time, folks. I'm LOSING TIME.

Actually, I've just been super busy. Several more new freelance jobs came in, so I'll be busy into October, which is awesome. I'm working on finishing my last one till then which is due next week. I'm a bit behind. We had an emergency with our cat this morning. We thought she was not going to make it, but I am happy to say that she is okay. :) But that set me back a few hours and I am behind today. And everyone's been an emotional mess.

No writing whatsoever. All this editing is screwing with my muse, I think. I am however hearing a few whispers of poetry so that's a good sign.
 

lizmonster

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:hi: Saoirse! Excellent about the business, and about your poetry. The muse will be there when you need it.

2,196 today.
 

onesecondglance

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So happy to hear kitty is okay, Saoirse!

Amazing progress, liz. You're doing brilliantly well.

I got a little more beta feedback from my wonderful readers, so I am gearing up for a "final" draft (yeah, right). In the meantime I stupidly set myself the task of writing a synopsis for the whole series. That is less fun than it sounds, especially trying to summarise books I have planned but not yet written...
 

lizmonster

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Oh, synopses are a bear, osg. But it's also fun to flesh out your future plans.

I wrote 2,347 this morning. Didn't actually want to stop, but I'm still experimenting with process.

Somehow this draft is over 30K. I have to Not Think about that - right now I just need to get the thing down without worrying over length or pacing. All things can be fixed in revisions!
 

Namatu

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(I love my crit partners. They kill way more characters than I do. :e2chain:)
I feel like this was the encouragement I needed to kill more characters.

Hello! Very long time since I've visited, but what are pandemics for if not checking in on old friends? I continue to procrastinate writing very well but have, in fact, made some word progress in September. With more to come.

Good to see familiar faces here. :banana:
 

Namatu

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OSG! :Hug2: I'd forgotten my login, but it's apparently been two years. How are you?

I'm rewriting a novel I finished 10 years ago. At times I've suspected the rewrite was a ridiculously futile action, but I'm halfway through now and like the improvements. It will be a better book.
 

TulipMama

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I don't know enough people well enough to say much aside from, uh, hi! Nice to meet y'all, I wish much literary progress in some fashion or another, and huzzah that kitties have survived. My sister had a near miss with her floof, some kind of epilepsy, but she's got medication now and is a chill if slightly sleepier putty tat.

Personal progress-wise, I'm copy editing my last 'official' chapter, getting rid of echos and cliches.

The more I look at it through, I think my epilogue is going to have to put on a few pounds and turn into a proper 30th chapter to get all the loose ends tied up -.- I'm dreading this, I've been editing so long I feel like I've forgotten how to do the writing part T-T

I'm practicing by writing a backstory for a rogue in a D&D campaign, flexing my making words muscles instead of my fixing words muscles.

Tulip Mama <3
 

Namatu

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I will never learn.
Mwa ha ha!

Welcome, TulipMama! Go get that last chapter with your copy edits! You can whip that epilogue into shape as a proper chapter. Do it. Do it and rejoice. I just junked the whole last half of the novel I'm rewriting. Join me in the fun!
 

lizmonster

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Words yesterday, words tomorrow, but never words today.

Actually, Thursday is Grocery Day, and I never write on Grocery Day. But I will write tomorrow. :)

I did reconsider my planned pen name. I may go with my mother's maiden name instead of my middle name. Might as well cover both sides of the family!
 

Namatu

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I can never really do anything on Grocery Day aside from obtain groceries. Of course, that doesn't apply to the following day, but on that day I cooked a lot of the groceries. I also managed a few lines to rewrite the start of another book. I am not rewriting this book, just read the beginning again and realized the first scene was a no.

These are the ways I procrastinate. But it's really feeling ridiculous that I haven't written that one important conversation in Rewrite Book so I'm going to have to hike up my pants and do it soon.
 

lizmonster

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First it's one scene, and the next thing you know you have an extra 120,000 words and another sequel.

2,180 today. That's after taking the cats to the vet. I think it's easier when I don't have to go inside with the masses.
 

TulipMama

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I wrote maybe 600 words, wedging a scene into my epilogue and mutating it into chapter 30. I've yet to put it through the editing meat grinder, but it promises to be a gentler ride than previous chapters.

Also, people are horrible, I applaud your ability to work at all when having to deal with them for any length of time. Hope the kitties are okay!
 

Saoirse

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NAMATU! So glad to see you! I hear you on the rewrite - I have a book I'm doing the same thing with that is a bit older (almost 15 years old, yikes!) and I am hoping it'll be better!

Happy to see all the progress!

I started a story-in-verse a few days ago. We'll see how that goes. I'm getting a surprise!editing job in a week or two which is fine, but that means I need to like, write some more before it comes.
 

Namatu

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Liz, those are good words.

Way to go, TulipMama!

SAOIRSE! I'm glad to hear you're also rewriting a book. We can enjoy the journey together. <insert maniacal laughter> While I did recently have a moment of "what am I doing? why am I doing this?", the new version is indeed better so I may as well persist. Gives me more time to ruminate over my newer idea.