500 Words Challenge

Daily Challenge Check-in: August 12, 2015

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Words/Time: 45 minutes, revising “Pithea.” I’m brainstorming what to include in part 4 before the real bulk of the subplot takes over. I’ve finished the “here’s what happened in the year-ish of time since part 3 ended,” and now I want to introduce/solidify some characters and give Missy and Naolin time to have one last conversation before I split them up to go to their separate conflicts for the rest of the book. I have two characters that I really want to actually see in the book, but I think I’m going to have to settle for mere mentions. Though I keep forgetting that one of them does have a big part in Naolin’s half of the rest of the story, so that’s probably okay.

It is very difficult sometimes to have characters I’m already very familiar with, and an original version of this story that I’ve always loved, and then try to make it work in this new world and new story. Sometimes it makes me sad.

Daily Challenge Check-in: August 9, 2015

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Words/Time: 2:48 hours, doing a hodgepodge of things writing related. I spend about an hour doing typical revision work for “Pithea” late last night. This afternoon, I was ready for a break from all of that, so I tried out using story cubes to spawn a story. (There will be more detail on that in a later post.) Then I spent nearly an hour working on getting scenes from “Pithea” into Scrivener in my quest to organize chapters.

All of this was during the last day of my writer’s retreat. I came home in the early evening, spent some time with my family, and looked forward to diving back into a normal revising routine in the evenings. That didn’t happen tonight, though, as my husband and I ended up binge watching the rest of the penultimate season of Parks and Recreation. Still, my weekend away helped me push past the looming section of revision that was causing me to lose all desire to do any work, and I do expect to be back to work tomorrow.

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.

Daily Challenge Check-in: July 28, 2015

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Words/Time: 3560 words revising “Pithea” with two of my sisters over Skype. Also known as the 49th meeting of the Tri-County Sisterhood of the Traveling Book. We got through almost 12 pages of double-spaced text. There were some issues raised tonight that made me very defensive of my words, but they were all resolved peacefully. I did wander off to the kitchen to scrub a dirty dish while we talked about one though (I use a wireless headset during these meetings), because I can’t sit still when these kinds of issues arise. That was something I only realized I did tonight.

Camp-Participant-2015-Web-BannerIt’s the end of week 4 of Camp NaNo, and there are now only 3 days left. I am about an hour away from my goal of working for an average of an hour per day all month. We’re leaving on Thursday for a 5-day trip to Toronto, so I most likely won’t have time to work on Thurs or Fri. Tomorrow, my kids and I will be spending a lot of the day packing and otherwise getting ready. I had anticipated being done with Camp NaNo tonight, so I wouldn’t have to work on it tomorrow, but I had to skip Sunday, so now I have another day’s work to do. I will do my best to make time tomorrow. It’s just an hour. If that fails, I will figure out some way I can do some work either in the car (though I tend to get carsick if I’m looking at a book, mobile screen, or anything like that, while the car is moving) or in the hotel between Thurs and Fri, during any down time. I’ll fit it in, even if I have to get up before the rest of the family on Friday.

Daily Challenge Check-in: July 27, 2015

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Words/Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes, adding revisions for “Pithea” that were made on paper into the computer. Not working on anything yesterday has put a crimp in my plans to win Camp NaNo tomorrow. And that’s a shame, because I’m leaving on Thursday for 5 days in Toronto. Wednesday will be mostly spent packing and getting otherwise ready, with an early bedtime. I don’t see having time, or focus, to work for the last hour I’ll be needing. Maybe I’ll have to find some sort of writing work I can do on the 8-hour drive. Or in the hotel on Friday afternoon, which for now is slated to be our only downtime all weekend.

Daily Challenge Check-in: July 26, 2015

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Words/Time: None. For the first time all month, I did not a single bit of writing work today. Not on my story, not for Camp NaNo, not even for this blog (besides right now, but this doesn’t count). Normally I just don’t post if I do nothing, but today wasn’t a lazy day, it was a full day. Up very early, nap in the afternoon, then a 90-minute drive for a concert with my family. To be honest, I’m mostly just posting because I was so close to posting every day in July that I didn’t want a day with no chance to work to ruin it. And to share this picture:

fK&C Elkhart 056

for KING & COUNTRY in Elkhart, IN