Words/Time: 55 minutes doing some early revision of “Pursuit of Power.”
I completed 3 items in my list of things to revise; it was nice to get through a few.
I also did spend a little more time futzing with my timeline.
Month: December 2018
A Monday Moment: Batman
My friends and I stopped in the coffee shop to sit and drink and talk. I almost ran into Jessica, who had stopped in the doorway. She ushered us back outside quickly.
“Batman’s in there,” she whispered frantically. Her face was red and there were tears forming in her eyes.
“What?” Grace asked. “Seriously, why’d you make us come back out here?”
“Seriously.” Jessica pointed at the door. “Batman is in there.”
“What does that mean?” I asked. Jessica always was one who would say something cryptic and expect us to follow her thinking.
“It means—” She opened the door so we could see inside. “—freaking Batman is in the coffee shop!”
Seated at a table not far from the door was a man wearing black clothes and a black hat. He was watching us peek in the door at him, and I wondered just how crazy he thought we were.
Jessica shut the door and we backed away as we saw someone else walking toward it.
“So…he’s Batman why?” Grace asked.
“What do you mean, ‘why?’ He had the whole get-up.”
Grace looked at me and I sighed.
“A black hat and sweater aren’t exactly a Batman outfit,” I said. “Maybe he’s just not a colorful person.”
“That wasn’t a sweater! Or a hat. He had the mask and all. You guys didn’t notice? Over in the back corner?”
“Oh…no, I was looking at the guy right up front here.”
“I was looking at the guy in the corner,” Grace said. “But isn’t Batman a fictional guy?”
Jessica stared at Grace silently for a few seconds before looking back at me. “Okay, look in there again, but this time look in the back.”
“I don’t want to stand out here looking in there again like some idiot. Let’s just go in.”
“But—”
The door opened then, and out walked a man in a full Batman outfit—cape, cowl, and all.
He turned our way and walked by us while we stared at him.
“Ladies,” he said in a gravelly voice.
After he left, Grace whispered, “He is Batman.”
Prompt used: You walk into a coffee shop and see Batman sitting in the corner booth.
Daily Writing Check-in: December 30, 2018
Words/Time: 1 hour, 2 minutes doing some early revision of “Pursuit of Power.”
Most of that time was spent working on an item in my second list of things to revise, the same item as yesterday. While trying to add some glimpses into the personal life of my secondary main character, I had to make a small edit to my timeline. I realized that she thought of the main character as too young for something he wanted to do, but I wasn’t sure he was really young enough. I tried to change his age, but that didn’t really work out.
In dealing with this issue, I realized that the secondary main character is too young, considering that she was younger than some of the side characters in “Pithea” that she’s definitely meant to be older and more experienced than. So I aged her a bit.
Then I added in one of the scenes I wrote as writing practice a few years ago, which I think is great for the story. Tomorrow, I’ll add another scene (and probably play with the timeline a bit more).
I doubled my goal of time spent working on writing this month!
Daily Writing Check-in: December 29, 2018
Words/Time: 44 minutes doing some early revision of “Pursuit of Power.”
Most of that time was spent working on an item in my second list of things to revise. The plan is to add in some glimpses into the secondary main character’s personal life, since she is not shown in that way very much so far. I’ve already written a scene or two that I can include, but for the first one, I have to get the area where it’s going to go ready. This involves once again comparing a scene that is in both “Pursuit of Power” and “Pithea,” and figuring out how much of it belongs in which book. This is where I will continue tomorrow as well.
Daily Writing Check-in: December 28, 2018
Words/Time: 49 minutes doing some early revision of “Pursuit of Power.”
Most of that time was spent finishing item 3 in my list of difficult things to revise, finishing revising the scene that I moved over from “Pithea.” That got me through 6 out of 8 items on the list. The other 2 I am saving for later.
Next, I am starting on a new list. While I was working on the items from my list of things to fix during this revision, I came up with some more things that needed to be done, and wrote them down for later. Now I’m starting on that list, which currently has 16 items on it. Today, I fixed the 1st and 4th items on the list.
After I’m done with this list, or perhaps before I’m completely done, I’ll read through the entire draft again to find any other glaring issues that need fixed before I’m willing to let anyone at all read it. There are a few items on this list that might better be fixed while reading through the draft, rather than trying to find all of the places the issue exists by skimming or jumping around.
Daily Writing Check-in: December 27, 2018
Words/Time: 51 minutes doing some early revision of “Pursuit of Power.”
That time was spent on item 3 in my list of difficult things to revise. This entailed copying & pasting a scene from “Pithea” into “Pursuit of Power,” because it turns out it really belongs there. However, the scene was written from the perspective of the wrong character now, so I’m making edits to help with that. I got sidetracked by trying to answer a continuity question that maybe isn’t important in this early revision.
Daily Writing Check-in: December 26, 2018
Words/Time: 58 minutes doing some early revision of “Pursuit of Power.”
That time was mostly spent fixing items 6, 7, and 8 in my list of difficult things to revise. It was nice to get through a few in a short amount of time, considering how long some of these items are taking.
I have now completed 5 out of 8 difficult revision items.
I also went on to work on item 3 on the list, which required me to take a look at some scenes in “Pithea.” That book runs parallel with “Pursuit of Power” in some places, and originally I had intended to just go ahead and show intersecting scenes in both books, but from different characters’ perspective. However, I’ve recently decided that that would be a bad idea. For one thing, some of these parts just mean a lot more to the plot of one book than the other. So for those, I’ll just delete the scene from the book it’s less important for, either summing up what happened, or hinting at it and leaving it unexplained.
One of these scenes was left fairly unfinished in “Pursuit of Power” when I first wrote it, but it needs to be in that book. Tomorrow I will work on moving the scene from “Pithea” to “Pursuit of Power,” which will take a bit of work, because it’s from the wrong character’s perspective right now.
Daily Writing Check-in: December 25, 2018
Words/Time: 1 hour, 34 minutes doing some early revision of “Pursuit of Power.”
That time was spent fixing the fifth item in my list of difficult things to revise. In the book, the 2 main characters get involved in a mini civil war in their country, and the uncle of one of the main characters is also involved in the battle. However, when I wrote the first draft, I completely forgot he was there. So I had to find some spots to add him in, and have it feel natural. I’m really happy with how it came out.
I have now completed 2 out of 8 difficult revision items.
I’m pretty happy to have gotten so much work in on Christmas day. I did some before I went to bed, but then had some free time in the afternoon between my immediate family’s Christmas events and my extended family’s gathering.
Daily Writing Check-in: December 24, 2018
Words/Time: 26 minutes doing some early revision of “Pursuit of Power.” Also 367 words of writing practice.
I spent most of that time brainstorming ideas for the fifth item in my list of difficult things to revise.
I also spent some time looking at my list of potential spoilers to decide if “Pursuit of Power” should still be book #2, or if it should come after 1 or 2 others. I still can’t decide.
A Monday Moment: Christmas Eve
Today’s writing was mostly inspired by it simply being Christmas Eve today, and by my own involvement in my church’s Christmas Eve service tonight, which I’m participating in.
The couple in the writing are two people whose relationship develops in the down time between stories (so far), so anytime I write about them as a couple, before they’re married, it’s new and interesting insight into their relationship.
To all who read this today or soon after it’s posted, I hope your Christmas is wonderful!
“Is the church having a service on Christmas Eve again this year?” Penny asked.
Nathan nodded. “But I already told the pastor that I wouldn’t be able to be involved this year. I’ll help him plan it, but won’t be part of it.”
“Why not?”
Nathan held back a chuckle to avoid giving her the wrong impression. “Because our wedding is only a few weeks after Christmas. I figured we’d be too busy to attend this year.”
“You want to skip the service?” Penny asked with surprise.
“I…I guess I thought we’d need to. Or at least that I wouldn’t be able to be part of it, considering the extra time that I would have to take to prepare.” He looked at his fiancée and noticed the disappointed look on her face. He wasn’t expecting this reaction at all. “Did you want to go to the service?”
She nodded.
“We certainly can. I only wanted to avoid any unnecessary stress.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but took another moment to consider what she wanted to say. She stared past him when she said, “The service last year was one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced. I never knew that side of Christmas, and, as you know, it was a huge part of me learning about your God.”
Nathan smiled. He remembered.
“But not just that—the music, the lights…the compassion.”
He noticed tears in her eyes and felt a tug on his heart.
“It’s hard to explain,” she said, meeting his eyes again. “But I have been looking forward to it this year. I would really like to go.”
“Of course we can.” He took her nearest hand in his. “I should have talked to you about it sooner; I do remember how much you enjoyed it last year.”
Penny squeezed his hand. “And, hey, if you want to be a part of the service, you should. I think we’re going to have plenty of time to get ready for the wedding without you needing to sacrifice a tradition.”
Nathan chuckled. “It’s not exactly a tradition; I’ve only been part of it for a couple of years.”
“All traditions have to start somewhere.”
A Journey of Words 