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.
Scrivener
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: May 10, 2015
Words: 2233 (in the form of time spent) adding revisions for “Pithea” that were made on paper into the computer. For the past few days as I’ve been messing with Scrivener, I forgot that I’d made some convoluted changes that I wanted to get into the computer before I forgot what I was doing and couldn’t read all of the arrows and circles and notes. So I spent over an hour doing that today.
Daily Challenge Check-in: May 9, 2015
Words: using my normal format, 8000 (in the form of 4 hours) doing various tasks. I started a plot outline for one of two stories I may write for NaNoWriMo this November in Scrivener. Yesterday, I used Scrivener to organize a novel that’s already written and being revised. I still didn’t finish getting it all in, and I’m not sure it’ll do me any good if I do. But in my pursuit of finding out why I should use Scrivener, I thought it would be good to look at the other end of the creative pursuit–plotting a new story, rather than working on a written one. I even did shallow character sheets on 6 characters, and got just a bit of insight into some more minor ones than I’d had. The story isn’t fully plotted, as there is a big gap before the climax, where the investigating and learning the truth and such need to happen. But it was a really good start. Of course, the real test of the program won’t happen until it’s time to use the outlined scenes to actually write, but that won’t happen until November. Given the 30-day limit on the free trial, I’ll need to have made my decision by then.
Daily Challenge Check-in: May 8, 2015
Words: 3000 (in the form of 90 minutes) setting up Scrivener. I’ve heard about it a lot, but hadn’t tried it yet. I thought it was too complicated and not necessary. I’m still not sure it will work for me, after playing with it for an hour and a half, adding chapters from “Pithea.” One feature I was looking forward to isn’t available on the Windows version, so that was disappointing. I’ll keep using it for now, since the trial lasts 30 days, and see if it’s enough of a benefit to keep going with it and maybe even buy it.
A Journey of Words 