Words/Time: 655 words revising “Pithea” with two of my sisters over Skype. Also known as the 41st meeting of the Tri-County Sisterhood of the Traveling Book. We tackled another expositional, between-parts chunk today. We only got through part of it, but a lot of that was due to me not really being fully prepared. It also did take a while to do the part we did do. Those parts, which are sort of like articles explaining specific aspects in my story world so I don’t have to find a place to include it in the story, are always harder for us to get through than the prose is. That’s okay. We also figured out a system in Pithea tonight and made sure the last 200 years of history made sense for this fictional nation.
Pithea
Daily Challenge Check-in: May 25, 2015
Words/Time: 40 minutes revising “Pithea.” After the epicness of Saturday’s marathon meeting, the TCSTB is nearly caught up to my own personal editing. I edit ahead because I know there are bigger changes I want/need to make that would affect the notes they may leave. Especially in the next area. I worked on trying to get ahead again today, but I was distracted and didn’t get very far. Some pages though. Our normal weekly Skype meeting is tomorrow night, though one of the members is busy lately, so we may skip it this week. I normally would be bothered by that, but I’m so behind, there may not be enough for us to do tomorrow to warrant pushing for a meeting. We’ll see what happens.
Daily Challenge Check-in: May 23, 2015
Words/Time: 7514 revising “Pithea” with with two of my sisters at the 4th marathon meeting of the Tri-County Sisterhood of the Traveling Book (42nd meeting overall). We got through 24 pages of double-spaced text, which was amazing. We were actually surprised by how far we went, as we did talk about unrelated things quite a bit early on, and some more throughout. And we spent a while outside doing various related and unrelated tasks.
Our first venture outside was to feed chickens and gather eggs. My parents have a few dozen chickens in their backyard, and they were out of town this weekend. One of my sisters was taking care of the chickens and dogs (and plants) while they were gone, so my other sister and I went out to see if we could help with the chickens when it was time to feed them. As soon as we opened the coop, most of them ran out, but this one apparently likes to roost more than the others, so we had to…help her share her eggs with us. A stick was involved, and I was the one brave enough to risk getting pecked to get the 5-6 eggs she was guarding.
The following video was our second outing. We had decided we should act out a conversation in the book that was carried on while walking. The original point was to find out how long it would take, so following events could be planned correctly. But my sister decided it would only be done right if someone was carrying something heavy, as one of the characters who was involved in the conversation was indeed carrying an unconscious friend. The 50+ pound dog food bag was the best thing we could find. I didn’t think about taking video until the “conversation” was over, and by then, the one carrying the bag was having a rough time of it. So she switched it up a bit.
Then we did further research into the best ways to carry someone, and went back out to test out another specific moment in the conversation. At that point, we switched to a 40-pound chicken feed bag, and she carried it across both shoulders. It went much better, not just because it was lighter, but because it was more evenly distributed. And because the chicken feed didn’t shift inside the bag as much as the dog food had.
With warm months upon us and a lot more outdoor things to be doing, we may not have another marathon meeting for a while. But this one left us on a stellar high.
Daily Challenge Check-in: May 22, 2015
Words/Time: 20 minutes revising “Pithea.” Responding to notes made on the TCSTB shared document by the other members, in anticipation of our marathon meeting coming up tomorrow. That means 12 hours of comparing notes on the story, acting out events or scenes to make sure they’re as realistic as we can, and generally having a blast.
Daily Challenge Check-in: May 21, 2015
Words/Time: 30 minutes revising “Pithea.” Responding to notes made on the TCSTB shared document by one of the other members, in anticipation of our marathon meeting coming up on Saturday.
And I just want to say that, while I didn’t post any work yesterday, because I didn’t do any, it was not just a missed day. It was one of those deliberate ones, where I knew pretty early in the day I wouldn’t have time, and gave myself that leeway. I haven’t missed many in the last few weeks, so I didn’t feel the need to push. Plus, my husband and I went to a funeral yesterday and ended up hanging out with family until late. But I don’t post on days off, even if they are intentional days off, so I just felt I should mention that here.
Daily Challenge Check-in: May 19, 2015
Words/Time: 495 words revising “Pithea” with two of my sisters over Skype. Also known as the 41st meeting of the Tri-County Sisterhood of the Traveling Book. We didn’t make it as far as usual, but we knew it would be slower going today. We tackled an expositional area that we’ve been putting off for months, and were happily able to finish it. There are three other chunks of exposition (set apart from the rest of the story) that we still have to do, but we’re going to procrastinate on those for now. This Saturday we’re having another marathon meeting, so we hope to really barrel ahead. And act out some things we’re uncertain of.
Daily Challenge Check-in: May 18, 2015
Words/Time: 1093 words, revising “Pithea.” I got through a few pages without too much fixing to do, then came to a more complicated area that will take more brain power. I quit there for the night, because I’m too tired and sick to deal with it. Been coughing something awful for two days now, and it’s just really draining.
Also, today’s my birthday! Fun times!
Daily Challenge Check-in: May 15, 2015
Words: 1149 (actual words today, not time equivilant). I’ve been missing the actual writing lately, so decided to do some of that today, instead of revising. The writing was for a somewhat broad storyline that takes place in the years that follow “Pithea.” There’s no real book planned for this storyline yet, because though what happens is important, it’s not enough for a book. But since it’s something of an exercise into some main characters and a relationship that later shows up with no real explanation, I’ve been writing it out over time. Today I wrote a pivotal scene.
Daily Challenge Check-in: May 14, 2015
Words: 500 (in the form of 15 minutes). I have a massive headache, so I took the chance to do just a small amount of work that didn’t require too much thinking. My Skype revision group is planning to go back soon to work on some exposition parts we’d skipped before. I had some updated notes on those sections that needed putting into our shared file, so I did that. Now I have to go lay down and keep my brain from oozing out of my skull.
Daily Challenge Check-in: May 13, 2015
Words: 1000 (in the form of 60 minutes) adding revisions for “Pithea” that were made on paper into the computer. I got to my writing time very late tonight, so needed something to do that didn’t require as much brain power but was better than just not doing it. I’m now caught up on putting notes made on my hard copy into the computer. Tomorrow it’ll have to be back to the actual revision (or back to playing with Scrivener).
A Journey of Words 