Month: August 2015

Daily Challenge Check-in: August 8, 2015

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Words/Time: 4 hours,  mostly revising “Pithea.” I worked for anywhere from 30-50 minute sessions at various times of the day today. Most of what I did today involved working through a section that was really unorganized. There was a lot of crossing out, a lot of rewriting, and also a lot of moving whole sections around. Considering that it took me several hours to get to where I’m finally almost past that part, I think it was a good thing it happened like this. If I’d had to sort through this mess over 30-60 minute sessions on normal evenings, I think it may have led to a lack of interest, because I would have felt like I was getting nowhere. So this actually worked out well.

Considering that I was alone in a trailer in the middle of a campground, with nothing to do but relax, I suppose 4 hours doesn’t sound like a lot. I’m happy with it though. Let’s face it, with 2 kids at home, one of which is only 5, I needed a lot of this time just to do whatever I wanted to do, and sometimes that included playing Nancy Drew, while other times it included revising.

At one point, it even included brainstorming ideas for the story that has to come after “Pursuit of Power.” I haven’t decided yet what story I’m going to write for NaNoWriMo this year. It will either be that sequel to “Pursuit of Power” (though I really have only very vague ideas for that one so far) or it will be a story about a character named Jonathan, who is minorly introduced in “Pithea,” but is a much bigger deal in my mind. That story has a lot more planned for it, but is missing something before the climax. However, though that story is further in its development, I can’t help but feel it would be smarter to continue Alexander’s story (which is “Pursuit of Power”) before I get too far away from it. So I need to figure out what the continuation of his story will even entail.

And today was a continuation of my writer’s retreat. I still have tonight, as late as I can manage to stay up, and tomorrow until around 5 to find a balance between relaxing and story work. Hopefully I’ll have another big report for tomorrow.

Daily Challenge Check-in: August 7, 2015

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Words/Time: 45 minutes, revising “Pithea.” I worked mostly on a section of exposition that comes between parts 3 and 4. It was a little messy. Then I worked on organizing the beginning of part 4, which is also more exposition than narration. Many important events happen over the course of about a year, but they don’t get much explanation each. It’s also kind of messy, so I’m trying to sort it out and make it flow more smoothly.

It was a slow start to my writer’s retreat, but so far, I’ve just been enjoying the quiet. I’ll be up late tonight, and do some more work in short bursts, most likely. Then there’s all day tomorrow.

Write Every Day: Writer’s Retreat

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

dream plan write

I haven’t posted a daily progress update in over a week. My family took a 5-day trip to Toronto starting last Thursday, and returning Monday. I have spent the rest of this week recovering, and also purposely avoiding my writing. When we got back, I was tired and unfocused and gave into the laziness.

I think I may have needed a little rest after Camp NaNo, though I know that’s not in the spirit of writing every day at all.  Still, I knew my chance to dive back in would be coming soon.

My in-laws have a trailer set up at a local campground, which they’ve visited now and then throughout the summer. Several weeks ago, while thinking about our family spending a weekend out there, I realized something. That could be a great place for a quiet weekend away from all of the distractions of home. The initial idea wasn’t necessarily for it to be full of writing, rather simply time alone, after a chaotic summer.

School is about to start, and I homeschool my kids. I have a son who is starting 8th grade and a daughter who is about to start a more structured daily routine for kindergarten. And this summer hasn’t really been the most relaxing “time off” any kind of teacher might hope to get. Hence the weekend getaway. My husband is the one who mentioned the idea of making it a writing weekend.

So I am leaving this evening, with food that won’t need much preparation, my laptop, every notebook I think I may need, printouts of two different stories, and no real chance at having internet (the wi-fi is terrible there, I’m told). I am bringing some DVDs to watch for a break now and then and plan to get out and take a walk when I need to stretch my legs. I’ll likely stay up until I’m too tired to think, sleep until (most likely) noises from neighbors wake me up, and keep going.

Come Sunday evening, I may have a very different post to share about the realities of my writer’s retreat, but for now, I have grand plans to get all sorts of work done, and to recharge before school starts up again.

Have any of you out there ever had a sort of writer’s retreat? A day, weekend, or even more away from normal life, during which you focused on writing?