Words/Time: 34 minutes adding revisions made for “Pithea” into the computer, and then onto the TCSTB shared document.
Pithea
Daily Challenge Check-in: October 16, 2015
Words/Time: 38 minutes revising “Pithea.” I spent some time researching different species of bears to decide if one of them would suit the animal that I created when I thought the world would be completely fantasy. I’ve since decided it would take place right here on Earth, but probably close to 2000 years in the future. The rest of the time was normal revision, no huge fixes today. I finished at the end of the climax. As much as I worry about how this novel will be received when it’s finally ready to submit to publishers, one of my main concerns right now is the story structure. It’s told in 4 parts, each of which is like its own contained story with a beginning, middle, climax, and end. The climaxes aren’t always terribly exciting, though the final one is definitely the most suspenseful. Anyway, it feels like a bit of a mess, and I’m not sure it can be made more structured without the story just falling to pieces. So it’s possible this novel’s only real future will be in self-publishing.
Daily Challenge Check-in: October 15, 2015
Words/Time: 23 minutes revising “Pithea.” I made some fixes for an issue that was brought up during my editing group meeting yesterday, and got through a few pages of revision. I’ve been so focused on NaNoWriMo coming up, both planning the story I’m going to write for it and making blog posts about how to prep, my revision work has been neglected. I should really make sure to get as much of that done in the next few weeks as I can. There are so few pages left on this draft, which will probably be the most intensive one!
Daily Challenge Check-in: October 14, 2015
Words/Time: 46 minutes and 1593 words, the latter of which was revising “Pithea” with two of my sisters over Skype. Also known as the 58th meeting of the Tri-County Sisterhood of the Traveling Book. We got through just over 5 pages of double-spaced text. We’re struggling to even find time for the meetings these days, as things are really busy for all of us right now. It wouldn’t be so bad–I wouldn’t even mind taking some weeks off until some of the craziness passes. But we’re so close to the end of the story, I want to try to squeeze in at least an hour each week. The amount we got through today was pretty much on par with what I’d expect for a shorter meeting, so I’m happy with it.
The time was spent early this morning (before I went to bed) working on the plot of my novel for NaNoWriMo. I spent a lot of that time researching. Most of it, in fact. Maybe all of it. I started looking for information on what red-hot metal would do if stabbed into a body (not a pleasant or easy topic to look up) and ended up looking at Hollywood misconceptions about how blades are made.
Daily Challenge Check-in: October 6, 2015
Words/Time: 2121 words, most of which was revising “Pithea” with two of my sisters over Skype. Also known as the 57th meeting of the Tri-County Sisterhood of the Traveling Book. We got through 5 pages of double-spaced text. There was less off-topic discussion tonight than we’ve had for a while now. But we came across more areas than usual that hung us up because we couldn’t come to agreements on how to fix them. More than one of them ended in the, “I’m the author so I’m just going to pull rank,” line. I don’t like doing that, because I’m sure it makes them feel like I’m dismissing their concerns. But when the concern isn’t a mistake but more of a difference of opinion, sometimes “pulling rank” is the only way to move on.
The rest of the words were from some writing practice I did. I’ve been trying to do a prompt every few days, partly because I’m still generating ideas to fill out the plot for my NaNoNovel, and partly to be in the groove of actual writing (instead of revising) before November comes. The prompt I pulled wasn’t one that I connected with, but I refused to let myself pass on it. I’ve been trying to stretch topics and themes that I can or will write about, so I’ve done some writing practice that was awkward or fell flat lately. This one, though, turned out rather interesting to me. So I’m going to do something I rarely do, and share what I wrote.
Keep in mind that this is raw (unedited) and I wrote it quickly without any forethought or pausing to think through where I wanted to go. The prompt came from 1000 Awesome Writing Prompts.
Prompt: Staging a fake kidnapping to get money out of your rich parents
Daily Challenge Check-in: October 5, 2015
Words/Time: 155 words and 30 minutes, the latter of which was spent adding revisions for “Pithea” that were made on paper into the computer.
The words were a short introduction I wrote for the main character of my NaNoNovel. Just a few minutes ago, when I went to put my novel into the newly relaunched NaNo site, I decided to title it “Too Many Irons in the Fire.” I’m not sure I’ll keep it, because it’s a little long, but for now, I like it. Maybe just “Too Many Irons” would be better? It implies the same expression but is more succinct. Any thoughts?
Daily Challenge Check-in: October 1, 2015
Words/Time: 23 minutes working on developing the plot for my 2015 NaNoNovel. I’ve semi-officially decided that I’m going to write a murder-mystery novel tentatively titled “Murder at the Rendezvous.” I’m nervous about it, because I’ve never written any kind of mystery story. Also because the plan is for the story to be a lighthearted take on the genre, and I’m not sure I’m good at light, comical writing. So this will certainly be a challenge to me in many ways.
The reason I say it’s semi-official is because I am not above changing my mind at the last minute. Some may find this lazy or cheap, but until a month ago, I had planned to write another novel in my “Pithea” world. It’s around two-thirds outlined already. If in the next month I don’t produce a solid enough outline for this story, I will fall back on the previous plan. I would rather put “Murder at the Rendezvous” on a shelf, maybe trying again next year, than to risk wasting NaNoWriMo. Besides, it’s not even like I’d be wimping out on the challenge of writing something I’m not used to. The novel I’ve already partially outlined is a mystery/suspense novel…no matter which way I turn, it appears I’m writing mystery this year.
I won’t post anymore daily check-ins until Sunday or Monday. I’ll be out of town this weekend, attending a rendezvous. My dad demonstrates blacksmithing at historical reenactments, and I go along to some of them to sell his products. The next two weekends are our biggest shows of the year. (This weekend is Feast of the Hunter’s Moon in West Lafayette, IN, if anyone happens to live nearby. It’s a pretty big deal.) This year, I’ll be paying more attention to my surroundings than usual at these shows, because I’m basing the setting of my novel on these events. This will probably be the biggest case of “write what you know” I’ve ever done.
Daily Challenge Check-in: September 30, 2015
Words/Time: 43 minutes and 2382 words. The latter of that was revision of “Pithea.” I’m trying to add more description about what characters are doing while conversations are going on. I was pretty lazy about that when I first wrote this during NaNoWriMo 2013. And I’m trying to ease back off Evan a bit, because I know I’m harsher on him than I always need to be.
The time was spent responding to notes left by others of the TCSTB, in our shared file that we use for meetings every week. It sometimes makes the meetings progress more quickly if notes are read and responded to ahead of time.
Daily Challenge Check-in: September 29, 2015
Words/Time: 2770 words revising “Pithea” with two of my sisters over Skype. Also known as the 56th meeting of the Tri-County Sisterhood of the Traveling Book. We got through just over 9 pages of double-spaced text. There was a lot of off-topic discussion tonight, probably about an hour and a half. There is often at least some off-topic discussion during our meetings, and I don’t normally quantify it, but it was a lot tonight, and not all at the beginning like usually when it’s a lot. There were also some characterization issues, and some problems with logistics related to relative location of characters during a long walk. They’re mostly sorted.
Daily Challenge Check-in: September 27, 2015
Words/Time: 70 minutes and 167 words. Most of the time was spent revising “Pithea.” A morbid scene has been discovered, and Naolin has found the only person left alive.
I spent some time transferring revision notes from hard copy to computer in anticipation of the upcoming TCSTB meeting. And the words were from some writing practice I did.
As I mentioned yesterday, I have hit on a possible idea for NaNoWriMo. I’m still in the broad plot part of planning, and unsure of how to make my jumbled thoughts into something more coherent. There’s still time though.
A Journey of Words 