Time worked: 1:20
Work done: All timeline for the Series. I’ll admit some of that was spent just trying to figure out how to make the program I’m using do what I want it to do. Still, it was a lot of time spent on my writing work.
Daily Writing
May 11
Time worked: 2:24
Work done: Worked on the outline for Pursuit of Power…still not caught up to the last place it intersects with the Series (one of a few working titles for the novel I’ve already written and am currently revising), which is still waiting for a second read-through. Also spent some time working on the timeline specifically for the events in the Series. Once these two things are finally done, I will start the second read-through.
Incidentally, I realized today that the plot I’m outlining (Pursuit of Power) will very possibly end up being my NaNoWriMo novel for this November. It’ll be the most prepared I’ve ever been for a NaNo month, and that’s considering I was pretty darn prepared last year.
May 10
Time worked: 1:00
Work done: Mostly worked on outline for Pursuit of Power plot, and spent some time fixing and adding to timeline. I’m close to the part in Pursuit of Power that will line up with part 4 of the novel I’m revising. Once I know more definitively what will be happening during that point in Pursuit of Power, I think I’ll be ready to start on the next read-through of the current story. Though I may want to do more detailed work on the timeline too. So far I’ve mostly been doing broad points, making sure multiple stories line up okay, but I think I should do a more in-depth timeline of the “Series” before I read through it again.
May 9
Time worked: 0:00
I am just too tired and sore to focus. It’s the first time since starting this that I’ve done nothing at all, though, so that’s something. I worked in my dad’s blacksmith shop today–mostly cutting metal–and the whole time I kept thinking about how I wanted to proceed with the plot outline I’ve been crafting for Alexander’s story, Pursuit of Power. And I’ve been itching to get back to building the timeline covering all of the stories I have more concrete plans for, and how they overlap. Then I got home and my head hurt, my back hurt, and I just want to sleep. It’s even taken me a lot longer than I expected to complete this post. And that’s considering that probably 1-2 people will ever read it. 🙂
May 8
Time worked: 1:32
Work done: Worked on plot for “Pursuit of Power,” during which I realized a huge snafu I had made. So I had to go back to the timeline and resolve some issues, though I wasn’t terribly thrilled with my choices. I do think I’ve resolved them, though. I also worked out some mechanics issues that I’ve been questioning for a while, but never really worked out. All of this I did while washing dishes, with a headset microphone and an audio recording program. Eventually I’ll have to spend the same amount of time listening to myself talk and taking notes. Will I count that time again? Heck yeah, because it’s still working on my writing, and sometimes new insights come out of the note-taking too.
May 7
Time worked: :50
Work done: Finished rewriting the very beginning of the story. It’s stronger now, though could probably still benefit from some editing. I also wrote a number of notes for a gap of time I’ve always avoided thinking about. I don’t even know if there’ll be a story there, but I was hit with some ideas today, so I wrote them down.
Writing practice from a few days ago follows. Again remember it’s raw material and may not be entirely clear what’s going on. Also from the perspective of Evan Thossan.
My great-grandfather was 110 years old when I was sent to live with him. Think about that for a second. One hundred ten years old. That’s not unusual, I know, but it’s still old. Now think about how old I was when my parents sent me to take care of him. I was ten. That’s an age difference of one hundred years. I’ll never understand why it fell to me to take care of the old man.
Great-grandpa liked to be called Roba. That’s what he said he had called his great-grandfather when he was younger. I think it’s from some old language that our ancestors used to speak, but I couldn’t even tell you what that was. “Roba” never really cared to share his reasoning with me. He only insisted I call him that…when I wasn’t calling him “sir.”
Roba and I didn’t get along at all. I guess it’s because I was never good at what I did. I was supposed to help him with everyday stuff, like making meals and going to the bathroom. It was boring and sometimes disgusting, so no, I didn’t put my heart into it. I was still going to school, too, not that he cared. He complained about my absence during the day, even when I reminded him that my parents had said they wanted me to finish school.
Every day I wished he would just die already. I mean, he was old anyway. He’d lived long enough, and he was keeping me from having a life too. When I first went to live with him, I remember wondering how many stories he’d tell me, how many skills he could teach me. But he never wanted to talk about anything like that. He just wanted to yell at me for burning supper, or ask me why I wasn’t strong enough to chop the wood right.
Even after I left to join the militia, he lived a few more years. Long enough to see me become a respected Swordsman, even if he couldn’t admit it. Not long enough to notice his sword was missing though.
May 6
Time worked: :50
Work done: Rewriting of story opening, which I believe I’m almost done with. It’s so much better than it used to be.
May 5
Time worked: 1:00
Work done: Did some revising of the opening paragraphs of my story, which were awkward at best, didn’t do a great job of introducing the story, and tended to ramble. Not done yet, but I’m more rewriting than revising, so that takes time. I also drew up a quick intro to the character I’ve been focusing on lately, from my narrator’s PoV.
From the Pen of Drear: Evan Thossan
I didn’t meet Evan until recent years, but I had heard plenty about him. Naolin had worked with him a few times, and didn’t have many nice things to say about him. Missy had met him too, and she didn’t like him at all. She said he was egotistical, condescending, and just plain mean.
To say that Evan thinks highly of himself would be an understatement. He is very good with a sword and someone you would want around in a fight. In some ways, his happiness depends on being useful to his militia. And he definitely is.
Back in those days, though, he had what some might call an attitude problem. In fact, that’s exactly what got him kicked out of the first militia he joined. That and his tendency to go to extremes to prove himself. He learned his lesson, though, and toned down his less-desirable qualities once he was brought into a new militia. That was when Naolin and Missy first met him.
As Naolin described him, “It was exciting to work with someone as strong and skilled with a sword as Evan. I just wish he didn’t constantly treat me like a child. From the first time I slipped on the ice, he decided that I wasn’t good enough to be in the same militia as he was. He treated me like a commoner. I would never tell him this, but I did admire his abilities. If he would only keep his mouth shut, he could easily become a leader in the militia.”
Missy had nothing better to say: “Most of what bothered me about him at first was how he treated Quinn. I felt like Quinn and I were in the same position–initiates who probably shouldn’t have been on the mission in the first place–so when Evan talked down to Quinn constantly, I felt like his words were aimed at me too. I’m not sure if it was better or worse that he didn’t even bother to speak to me most of the time. Probably worse, considering the horrible things he said about me, even after I’d saved his life.”
After meeting him myself, I wish I could say that they have exaggerated, but I don’t think I can. I do understand him better; he has had plenty of obstacles to overcome in his life–enough to make him feel like he’s superior to others who didn’t have the same trouble. If only he could find a better way to express his satisfaction at what he has achieved.
Evan joins us in “Adventures in Pithea”.
May 4
Time worked: :35
Work done: Only writing practice again. Weekends are hit-or-miss for time to work, and this weekend was definitely miss. But I made sure to do something at least. I’ve been focusing on the same character for the last three days of writing practice, in an attempt to get a better handle on him.
May 3
This is a comic version of me. It was done by Errol of Debs & Errol. It’s wonderful, and I love it, and if I ever figure out more of how this site works, I may find a way to make it a regular fixture. Note the pen on the shirt. That’s ’cause I’m a writer.
Time worked: 0:30
Work done: All 30 minutes spent on writing practice. It was a long, tiring day, and my brain couldn’t really process any other work. But I made sure to get some writing practice in, so I wouldn’t be doing nothing. I don’t know if it can really be considered “progress,” but at least I didn’t do nothing.
A Journey of Words 