Words/Time: 53 minutes, mostly spent on character work for the MC in “Pithea.” I also spent a little time working on getting scenes for that same story laid out in Scriviner.
camp nanowrimo
Daily Challenge Check-in: July 23, 2015
Words/Time: 1 hour, revising “Pithea.” The beginning of part 4 has long concerned me. After three parts, each with its own mini-plot, part 4 has its own too. However, first, there’s the issue of a bunch of stuff that happens during the year between parts 3 and 4. At the beginning of parts 2 and 3, there was also a little bit of, “So, here’s what’s happened since then…” The other times, though, it was a small amount of text. This time, way more happens. Around 5000 words-worth. Looking at the word count, it didn’t seem like as much as it had felt like before, so I’m less concerned now. Most likely, I’ll make one chapter of various updates (or two chapters, if need be, as one of those updates seems like it might be better being separate) and then just go on with the story.
I also decided today that it’s time to start laying out the story in a way that helps me see where chapter breaks should be. I’ve noticed that I seem to be different than most other writers (though to be fair, I haven’t done specific research, just what I hear other Wrimos or blogging writers say) who plan chapters into their outline, or at least break the writing into chapters as they go. I don’t get that. I mean, I am completely baffled by it. I have a hard enough time deciding chapter breaks afterward. However, I’ve finally started to bring myself around to understanding (and believing) that “average chapter length” is a myth. My plan right now is to use Scrivener (which I’ve tested, but not thoroughly) to lay out the scenes and hopefully figure out chapters there.
My stats page on the Camp NaNo site says that at my current pace, I will finish on July 29th. That is fortunate, because my family is leaving for a 5-day trip to Toronto on the 30th. Though I’ll bring a notebook or two with me, I know I won’t have time to do any writing work. I didn’t last time. So I should finish the day before. Though in actuality, barring any bad days before next Tuesday, I’ll probably finish on the 28th, because I will have another 2-2 1/2 hour Skype revision meeting that will most likely push me over the edge.
Daily Challenge Check-in: July 22, 2015
Words/Time: 630 words of something completely unrelated to anything I should be working on. Not even fiction. But still writing. I worked all day, then had another obligation in the evening, so I didn’t get home until 10:30, at which point normal child-bedtime routines still had to happen. So I decided not to worry about Camp, since I’m ahead anyway. What I did write qualifies for my daily challenge to do some sort of writing work every day, but doesn’t qualify for Camp NaNo.
Daily Challenge Check-in: July 21, 2015
Words/Time: 3603 words revising “Pithea” with two of my sisters over Skype. Also known as the 48th meeting of the Tri-County Sisterhood of the Traveling Book. We got through almost 11 1/2 pages of double-spaced text. We discussed tonight the fact that the last three meetings have yielded higher than average page counts. We’re not sure if it’s because I’d gotten better at my writing by the time I got this far, if I’ve just gotten better with my revising before the group reads over the story, or if we’re just all starting to care less. Hopefully it’s not the last one.
It’s the end of week 3 of Camp NaNo, so here’s a quick update on my progress–my goal for the month is to work for an average of an hour per day on my revision. I’m happy to say I have still been keeping up with that and then some. I’ve still only skipped one day of revision all month. Any other times I’ve had a rough or busy day, I’ve made sure to get at least 20 minutes of work in. Right now, I’m almost 3 hours above par for the current day, so I’m going into week 4 with some buffer, which is always great!
Daily Challenge Check-in: July 20, 2015
Words/Time: 1497 words, revising “Pithea.” I have toned down a scene that was probably too much too soon, though only by a small amount. One sentence deleted was all that was required. And with today’s work, I have finished part 3 of 4 during this revision session, which will probably be the most intensive one I have to do. Part 4 is kind of a mess though. All four parts consist of somewhat stand-alone mini-plots while the main plot progresses. Part four has its own conflict, but first I spend several pages talking about things that happened between parts 3 and 4. I’m not sure how well that’s going to work yet.
Daily Challenge Check-in: July 19, 2015
Words/Time: 20 minutes, revising “Pithea.” I’ve been achy and just generally feeling under the weather the last two days. I’m not sure if there’s a cause or if I just need more sleep. I decided today was a good day to just go for my normal challenge minimum of 500 words or 20 minutes, and use some of my buffer for Camp NaNo. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the last few years it’s that pushing myself to work when I’m not feeling up to it can lead to an unwanted stretch of no work for a while. But I was at least able to focus for 20 minutes, so I could avoid skipping today altogether.
Daily Challenge Check-in: July 18, 2015
Words/Time: 1 hour, 42 minutes, adding revisions for “Pithea” that were made on paper into the computer. I still sometimes think counting this as writing work is cheating, but it has to be done. Revising on paper is a lot easier for me, and it has to go into the file eventually. And since my free time is limited, it almost always has to happen during my writing time. Plus, often when I’m making these transfers, I come across other things to change too, or redo an edit I’d already made, so there’s still some revision.
Daily Challenge Check-in: July 17, 2015
Words/Time: 2526 words, revising “Pithea.” It was a solid hour of work with few distractions for once. This area of the story didn’t need a lot of work, fortunately. It was a little emotional, as sad news was shared and one tragic backstory was revealed. My poor characters have been through a lot, and this is nothing compared to the wringer Alexander goes through.
Daily Challenge Check-in: July 16, 2015
Words/Time: 911 words, revising “Pithea.” Missy’s retelling of events is a little more detailed now, which may or may not be okay. After a few sections of actual dialogue when Missy tells part of the story and Naolin reacts, it speeds through the rest with little more than a, “She told the rest of the story, and he interrupted a few more times.” So it may be too abrupt, but I’ll wait until the TCSTB gets to that part to worry about it.
Daily Challenge Check-in: July 15, 2015
Words/Time: 33 minutes, revising “Pithea.” I was working on a section that seemed like a cascade of dominos. When I started editing one part of dialogue because it was obsolete, I realized that something before it was also obsolete. Other things I’ve changed made these areas need big overhauls. Then that led to going back a little further to change something else to the rest of it would work. And during all of this, I had more interruptions from my kids than normal, and after too many of them, I gave up on being able to concentrate for the evening. So I cut it short tonight to avoid getting a bad attitude about the whole business that might carry on past tonight.
A Journey of Words 