My two-month old computer suffered a catastrophic screen failure about two weeks ago. For the past two weeks, I’ve been struggling to put together the How To Think Sideways Walkthrough from my laptop, with all the material I had on the main computer unavailable while it was in the shop. And, as noted elsewhere, the migraines and vertigo are back with a vengeance.
The current version of TalysMana was in the other computer’s backups, which I cannot mix with the laptop backups. So no words for me, other than putting together the How To Think Sideways Walkthrough. The computer is back now, though, and I’m getting ready to set it up again and put all the data back on it.
Hoping things will be less eventful from here on out, and I’ll be able to get more on the story soon. The villain and I were having such an interesting conversation.
{ 141 comments… read them below or add one }
Holly, it’s so good to have you back. I’m really sorry about the vertigo and the computer issues though.
Not meaning to be a broken record but the walkthrough is awesome. Seeing someone work their way through the process “live” is really helpful. It’s like Christmas whenever I get the email that the latest walkthrough is available.
Ok, so my progress report. made some good little in-roads. There were a few moments when I thought: nope, not going to happen, not possible. But then a few key things clicked and I’m leaving it in a much more solid place than it was yesterday. although ugh, my current question is just ugh. have no idea how i will finally figure this whole section out.
the fun part is just how impossible things seem now, and then 3 weeks later it will be so obvious that I won’t understand what took me so long to “get it”. I LOVE that part of brainstorming.
Computer crash, health problems, lost files – I call those pile-on times – when too many things happen at once. And you seem to have had more than your fair share of them lately, Holly.
I am glad to see you get back up, brush the shattered pieces off and get back in the game.
I hope your villian starts talking again. I just started getting to know my villian, in his pre-villian stages, and he is much more interesting than I thought he would be. I really like him, in fact. But, I totally get it though how he will fall, and fall hard, and what he does after that to deal with it.
Looks like today is a day off for me. I had one small bit of insight but real life just took up too much time today.
I have some more questions to answer and a book to dissect, then I will be back on writing track. The holes I have in my story now are getting filled in and I can’t wait to get there, but I want to be consientous and be prepared, not jump too quick, of that makes sense.
Working through lesson 5 of HtTS and looking over some short story ideas while I wait to start revising my novel. Looks like I’m going to be starting a new job in the near future, so it’s probably a good thing that I don’t have a novel on the back burner right now. It’ll give me a chance to settle into the new position and then when things are into a routine, I can start revisions and then a new novel with all the great stuff I’m learning from HtTS.
I’m doing the free plot outline course, for a short story (I’m thinking 5-10k words, not sure where it’d fit but hey I’m no where close to publishing so it’ll be for fun and then I’ll see).
I’m travelling a lot the next two weeks so I’ll try and get as much as possible done with the free plot course. Then I’ll start in from the beginning of HTTS so I can invite a new MC to my novel and come up with a new plot (well I’ll save a little of what I have).
I’ll probably get Holly’s Plot course for when I get to replotting the story. Therefore I wanted to try out the free information and decided to plot the short story floating in my head.
No more progress yet for Lesson 6 of HTRYN yesterday…but I’ll have some time tonight so we shall see where it goes
This is my fourth time through HTTS and Holly’s Walkthrough has been amazing to experience. I feel like I’m learning and understanding more things each time I go through. The surprises are endless
This weeks walkthrough has been extremely helpful. My Me balks at The Dot and The Line. I don’t know why. It just says “this is stupid I can’t use this, no way will this connect.” And it drowns out my Muse terribly. Or maybe…maybe I don’t have a Muse and I just pretend I do. I don’t know.
Anyway, I was able to get some drawings done. I even know what they are. But I have no clue what to do with them. And my biggest problem : It’s going to be the ultimate challenge having a blind MC in this story. I almost want to rethink it, give her a different weakness. I’m not sure if its because I want to make it easier on myself or it just doesn’t fit this story….but I thought Muse had given me a gift with adding a blind character….
Now, I’m just very uncertain. I don’t want to take the easy way out. But I also don’t want to move forward with a character weakness that isn’t right for the story.
I’m still trying to connect the dots, so to speak, with what I found. I can even envision a big scene near the beginning, when the MC finds her whole family has disappeared and left her in the hands of a complete stranger. Its SO exciting this scene came from the dot and the line. I once believed it was a joke…but now I see the magic.
Thank you for that Holly
And I’m sorry for your computer troubles. Technology is such a mixed bag. It’s amazing how things keep progressing…but at the same time its not-so amazing when it causes us to lose our work, ect. I don’t trust it anymore and have learned to have multiple back ups of everything. Sometimes even that doesn’t help though.
Can’t wait to see what comes next in your story!
I finished my book dissection. A bit of reverse book math and some analysis and i will be done. Then, a few more questions to answer and I am back to scene writing. Maybe by Saturday.
I am still being wowed by Week 1 of the Walkthrough. You described the states in a way that took me way past the fluff I wrote the first time. In fact, I found a conflict between items in the lists, that I am sure keep me stuck in neutral. This exercise might send me back to therapy — the constructive kind not de-constructive. I plan to put these where I can see them every day, but discreet so they don’t beat me over teh head. Maybe inside the bathroom cabinet?
Had the best birthday a writer could have. My Mom got me an e-reader, and between my husband and my Dad, they chipped in to get me a brand new laser printer. Can’t believe they went to all the trouble. And can’t wait to try out my printer with the latest manuscript. Just in time for revisions, too!
Happy Birthday!
Thank you….:)
Happy Birthday! What thoughtful and great gifts.
sooo, looks like it’s been awhile[!!], in fact, ever since I decided to add exercise to my day. I seem to only manage one extra: exercise or writing. I would REALLY like to succeed at both.
yesterday I went home and crashed in front of evi box. UGH.
but it’s just one of those things.
today, I shall reset. Have to do a lot of catch up work tonight as a result (cooking and exercise) but there’s no reason I can’t fit in 15 or 30 mins of brainstorming, here and there today.
Today went better than I hoped (ie. fit everything in). 30 mins tonight on brainstorming. Got a better understanding of a few things.
Not sure how this happened, but I went to a wedding today and came home with story ideas.
Sometimes the BEST ideas come when you aren’t expecting it/ aren’t thinking about writing…awesome when that happens
My best ideas seem to come to me when I talk to people, and something I say or they say hits me…and suddenly I get images of a character/place/situation…it gives me shivers really
Oh, and of course waking up in th middle of the night (say 3 or 4am) is a GREAT time for ideas it hit me in the face. The awesome thing about ideas is you can get them anywhere :p
For a long time I used to do a character exercise where you take a character from a tv show or book or movie and plop him/her/it/them in the conflict from a different show or book or movie and see what happens. I got some very funny results and a lot of dead characters that way…
I took the wedding ideas and hit up my map for PH2–and got a decent (proposed) ending. Now I know where the story’s going; I got 115 words in 15 minutes this morning. I plan to do more tonight; I have to re-read the story and see if I missed anything. I know there will be huge re-writes, but for now, I mostly want to remember easy stuff like how to spell character names.
Oh–and I’ll have to go through the language and culture clinics again because my four very different societies are blending in my head.
I developed a project from scrap in 1 1/2 days and wrote 20 sample pages in 3 1/2 days. I’m knackered but proud. I’ll send the lot to my agent now and then I’ll be off to bed.
I feel guilty to have to admit that I haven’t done any work on my worksheets in the last few days…but I think I have a good reason. My father-in-law passed away on Saturday and I have been in a fog or completely in tears ever since. First day I was just numb. Yesterday I was half numb/half starting to understand things and crying a lot more…today…I couldn’t stop crying. We had to go to the funeral home and plan the burial…and I just…lost it. I don’t know how else to describe it. Does it get easier? Will it always feel like this when the grief comes on? I feel like a crazy person now. I’m happy and fine one minute, guilty the next…and bursting into tears after that. I lost a close friend a couple months ago and that was bad…but this is a different pain altogether.
Anyway, I’m going to try and work on my worksheets tomorrow. My father-in-law knew about my writing and supported my dream 100%. He would be upset if I went into a funk and stopped writing for weeks. I almost thought of dropping out of college for a term…but I don’t think I can do that either. I need a sense of normal in my life right now. That’s what I’m telling myself anyway.
Hi Tori, I’m so sorry to hear this.
I stopped writing for awhile too when I lost my grandfather (it was unexpected and too soon and he was such a kind soul). I just couldn’t think about anything for a long while.
One thing that’s helped me when I lose someone is to write something about them. for my grandfather, I wrote about how I pictured him still working on his garden in heaven. It helps to think about his spirit going on/getting to see him again, just in another place and form. This always helps me the most: to imagine the person on a long trip and I’ll see them a little later.
It does get better eventually/the pain gets less. but it’s so raw at first and for awhile it’s just putting one foot in front of the other. I really am so sorry. I hope you will take care of yourself.
Gabby, thank you for responding!
I’m finding it hard to think of anything as well…but at the same time…I don’t want to give up on writing. It was important to my father-in-law for us to keep going on with our lives, that is what I wanna try to do. I’m afraid I’ll let my emotions cover the story in a way that it shouldn’t, give it a different tone…but I’m not going to worry about that right now. I just wanna get through my first revision. If worst comes to worst…I’ll do it again!
I LOVE your idea. There are so many things I could write about for this special person. And I think it would really help my healing process. Maybe I’ll even show it to hubby…or put it in the obituary or something. We’ll see. I really do hope I’ll see him again. I grew up Christian…but I have to say I don’t know what I believe anymore. And I don’t know what he believed either. I just feel the loss of him so completely. I pray that wherever he is at, whatever he is up to…he is at peace.
I do feel like that at the moment. Like I’m just going through the motions but I’m not really wanting to or feeling much. On one hand I’m glad my baby boy isn’t old enough to see me like this…on the other it breaks my heart because he will never know his grandfather, who is one of the most awesome people I have ever met. I’m not sure if I am “taking care of myself.” I cry when I need to…but in general I’m thinking more about my husband and his family. They need me to be strong. I want to do that for them.
On a lighter note I DID get some work done on Lesson 6 yesterday! And feel up to the challenge again today!
I’m so sorry for you and your family, Tori.
It does get better, I swear. It takes a while, though. I lost my grandmother 15 months ago and I still break down in tears sometimes. Having a sense of normalcy or a routine can help you, but sometimes it feels like a straightjacket. Give yourself permission to break down sometimes, and break out of the routine when it feels too confining. Sometimes a day or two of running the emotional gauntlet without the scheduled pressures gives more relief than trying not to cry in class or swearing at a sinkful of dishes.
Talk to your professors, and if necessary, your college dean. I had a full time schedule when my Grandma died and by finals I was really overwhelmed. My professors gave me extensions so I could work on one class’s work at a time. It helped. But talk to them right away–waiting makes them less likely to help.
Danzier,
I can see what you mean already. Today the routine felt awesome. Yesterday it felt like a prison. So I will now promise myself to let things go when I need to. To cry and feel the pain of my loss when I should. I can’t be strong all the time. While I wouldn’t be able to handle crying in class I don’t mind swearing at dishes
Really the only thing I’m terrified of is losing it in public! It feels good to know I’m not alone in this or crazy and that my emotions are normal. It…helps. It really does. One less thing to worry about.
Well I haven’t started classes yet so can’t talk to my professors that I know of…but I guess I could talk to the dean to let her know what’s going on. This is a tech college so they are pretty strict about when things need to be turned in (its only a year program.) But it would be interesting to find out if they have things like extensions available. This gives me a lot to think about, that’s for sure! One thing I’ll need is the death certificate to really get help from them. That hasn’t even been processed yet so…it’s going to be interesting.
Thank you for the response! It’s helped! Now I just have to go about taking your advice!
Geez, a full week setback, 7 days, did not write a word or do any research or planning. Hope to get back on track this weekend. grrrrrr ….
I’ve been in stuck/avoid mode for the past week [on a positive note I've only been at this section for about 10 days/it's felt MUCH longer]. Today I was able to make a few inroads…baby steps only but they add more detail to the stuff I have. and maybe I creep a little closer to a solution.
Lots of thinking today. I’m hoping if I post my goals here you guys will help me keep on track. It’s sooo easy to lose my place over the summer, especially with so much going on. I’m going to post the math as a guide…
PH2 is the project. It’s currently at 39,400 effective words (not counting outlines and *notes*). It’s June 21; I have until September 5. That’s 76 days. I figure I’m 4/9ths through the story, so my final word count should be 90K. So I have 50,000 words to go. There are some holidays and weekends in my 76 days, so I figure I’ll have 50 days for typing. That means to finish my book I need to hit 1000 words per day. I’ll take the rest of this week for planning, and start in on Monday next week.
That’s great! good luck!! I’m rooting for you
Danzier,
I’m cheering you on! Writing out your goals really do help…having a writing buddy, even if its only someone to tell what you’ve done that day…can be a lifesaver! It was for me.
Your goal sounds great! You have any specific reason why you want to be done with your draft by September?
My first goal was to be done with my revision by this July. I now know I’m nowhere near close to reaching that. But its not stopping me from working. I just have reassess my goals is all
New goal is to finish revision by end of the year. Even with working a full schedule at school and a little baby at home I think this is possible!
If you push me I’ll push you if that’s why you need
So…you plan anything today? And btw will you be taking HTRYN after you finish? I’ve seen you on HTTS…has the course been helpful to you? You use the lessons at all?
Sorry for all the questions, I’m just always interested to see how Holly’s courses have worked for them. Because she has done wonders for me.
My classes start on September 7th. I’d like to have the draft done before classes start. It will be sooo good to say I finally have something finished.
I started PH2… well, I started the series ten years ago, and found the story I wanted to tell through it about four years ago. By that point the poor thing was so bloated with worldbuilding and such that I wasn’t sure it could be saved. I’m taking HTTS to learn how to write the story I want to tell, and I’m taking the characters and settings from my original series and rebuilding the story from the ground up. PH2 is the ground. I’m going straight through HTTS with it…and I’ve learned more from the class than I have in any other writing class I’ve taken. Holly has this unique ability to tell it like it is; I haven’t ever had a teacher be this clear about the “real world” of writing. Plus, creative writing teachers always seem to talk about coming up with ideas and making stories that work, but they never give you clear, consise information on *how*, but Holly does.
Today’s planning: I think my sentence is almost right. Right now it’s ” An escaped slave with a rare gift must defeat his unkillable former owner while outwitting the science-driven magician doctors who want both of them dead — for very different reasons. (30)”. I don’t like “science-driven magician doctors”, but it’s an acute description. I’ve also been practicing the Sentence structurally by writing plot cards a la “How To Create A Plot.” I’m not sure I’ve got it, quite. Still, progress is progress.
Sorry, this got a bit long, and I’m probably preaching to the choir about HTTS. It’s been a busy day.
Danzier, I just have to pipe up too. I agree with you so much. Holly is just so clear with her process. Most writers seem to treat it like hidden magic. And I think it probably just is sort of half understood to them: how they got from point A to the end. I’m so glad Holly has hade her process available to me/us.
oops, *made her process…
(Wish we could edit our stuff) lol
About all I can say is I put in my hour tonight. Which is good! yay. I showed up. Figured out a few little small things. In some way, I felt like I took an important step forward into the new forest of questions.
…
Gabby, you have an amazing amount of dedication. Congrats on moving forward into the trees.
Thanks Danzier! Your emoticon is perfect by the way. That’s me most nights. It’s taking forever!
I’ve been trying to figure out how a bug could teleport. sort of a long story but I want a process that fits in with my world’s magic. [Don't know if you get Holly's weekly email but it's perfectly timed for me. Along the lines of how does it happen, what process: does the bug explode or some chemical reaction or I don't know]. I was talking to my husband (cause I’ve been stuck for such a long time; I think I’m getting tunnel vision) and he was kind of like “well, there you go, they teleport”. His thinking: “it’s not actually possible so call it a build up of butt-gas, who cares.” lol
It makes me snicker every time I think of it. But I just can’t leave it like that. I just have to know what happens to the bug and how the little guy manages it.
I did Google it the other day and dunno, I might really need to go with butt gas. [No, I refuse to give up. I will figure this out]
…If it’s any help, there’s this bug that has two kinds of chemicals it stores, which it sprays at an attacker. When the two chemicals combine it makes a sort of cloud of burning chemicals. I remember it because I saw a little cartoon of where if the bug’s chemicals mixed, it would explode.
I have no idea how your magic system works, but when you said “butt gas” that cartoon was the first thing to pop into my head, and I thought, “what if it wasn’t blowing up? What if it was teleporting?”
Just my two cents, anyway…
LOL, thanks! I will keep that in mind. Maybe I’ll add two internal chemicals combining to create a portal. must think on that…
300 words today on Bx2. As I was waking up this morning, a minor character came forward to tell her story. I could not find her voice, so I got the skeleton of her story down, at least.
My Muse has been busy. She woke me up earler than usual this morning to do this.
I also got the ending, the very ending! Wish I did not have to go to work, I would rather stay home and work this out.
Sounds awesome, Hanna! I can’t wait to read your finished story!
Thanks, I am getting psyched about this. I can’t wait to start revising.
Took a little bit of time off from writing in the last little while. I kept up a rigorous schedule to get the draft done, so to reward my good work ethic, I gave myself some time off to do other creative things. I helped my mom make some cards for graduation and Father’s Day (she does scrapbook style handmade cards) and helped my hubby with a project. He was building a game board so I did some painting for him and some very tedious cutting of little grass squares.
I started writing a new short story and so far have about 1200 words on it. I’m still working through the HtTS lessons and getting ready to start a new job. I’m going to be an assistant manager of a video store. Yay me!
WooHoo! New job, yay!
On the concept of reassessing goals…
Today I learned what a scalpel is and how to use it on a story. PH2 needs surgery. Yes, I am being cryptic.
Yes, cryptic. I am intrigued. I take it you mean editing, or do you have a doctor type character learning to cut?
Concept editing, I think, although I do have an apprentice doctor in my story. A “scalpel”, as a concept, is a tool which in the right hands precisely cuts between the bad and the good. A couple of the main structural elements in PH2 were very wrong, and because of that I missed a huge, deep, central issue. So I have to rethink before I can rewrite.
And my deepest thanks to Holly for helping me learn to use it.
Thanks
I woke up way too early. 500 words this morning, worked on two chapters. I discovered some of the philosophy of the story and the main character.
My first draft hovers at 40K words, so I am almost done with my 50K plan. In revision I will shoot for 75-100K. It feels in my gut to me that revising will start soon, especially now that i have the Prologue and I almost have my structure ready.
I have been playing around with my Gravator icon. Today it is a sand cat, I like the big ears. Tomorrow I will be giraffe spot or sailboats. I am just not sure what to use these days. My Muse is driving that.
Hanna, that’s awesome! You’re so close
So how do you make an icon show up in this blog anyway? I’d love to do that but I don’t see any place to add it.
There’s a website called “Gravatar” where you can upload pictures and your email address, and it puts the picture on the websites where you comment using that email.
oh thanks! Maybe I will try that. Although all these emails I keep getting “we want to notify you that our info was hacked into…” (just got yet another one today) ugh, I’m starting to get leery. Those hackers are getting REALLY annoying
Hi Hanna!
How do you go about filling in a first draft, do you end up adding new scenes or do you just put in more detail?
For the first draft of my novel I’m aiming for 50k but want to beef it up later but I’m worried I’m going to struggle filling it in.
I was able to put in another couple of hours tonight. Still trying to put some details together.
I haven’t posted here in a while, so I’ll fix it =)
I haven’t written many words lately. I’ve mainly been doing my 1B worksheets for HTRYN. About 30 more pages and I’ll be halfway through the manuscript.
No words this morning, early dentist appointment.
Thanks Danzier!
Now I can move on. [sigh of relief]
Add two internal chemicals plus a magical appendage, add water = portal. Finally
I’m currently transcribing my diary from when I was an Au pair in Germany, I’m hopefully going to combine it with emails sent to my mother and make some kind of story from it.
Does anyone think there’s a market for this kind of thing or should I dramatise it a lot more so it’s more like fiction?
Any advise is appreciated
You might want to make that decision when you get there.
With some names changed, and some drama thrown in, it could be fictionalized.
Try looking into the memoir market, too, it is pretty big right now. Thinking About Memoir is a good book to consider.
Thanks!
No words the last couple of days, but several long talks with my Muse and a few characters. Who’s next? I am not sure yet.
No writing.
My mom’s mom was very sick, so I helped my sister arrange for mom and sis to go visit. Their plane left here at 5 today, short layover in Dallas, and then on to Gran’s. Unfortunately Gran passed last night. AAAAAnd the airline people sent mom and sis to the wrong gate, so their short layover just became 24 hours.
Don’t anyone wait to say “I love you” or whatever else you need to say to people you need to say it to. Life is too short and the surprises aren’t always good ones.
…Tori, how’re you doing?
Well, the book that was going to be a prequel to my main series is now splitting off to be a stand-alone in a different universe. It will be better for it; I can write it how I want. My main series has a co-author, and he didn’t want to write a prequel anyway. If I’m careful I can get that series down to three books again.
So my summer goals have shifted drastically. PH2 is undergoing fundamental changes, AJCTA (series book 1, “done” but awful) is in revision, and I finally feel like I’m making progress. No type-in words yet, but about 700 revision words.
450 words tonight. First words in a long time. First words since my last e-book tanked and I saw my career while I was fishing through the gutter. On the bright side, I’m over that, and back to writing the way I should write: not for royalties, but for love.
These first words were rough. I lost my sense of the story 70% of the way through, and I don’t know what it’s about right now. I’ll have to do a serious revision to make it work.
Know anywhere I could find a good ‘How to Revise’ course?
Welcome back. Sorry to hear about your e-book
Congrats on the words, though.
Thanks. In a way it was refreshing, like a slap in the face. It humbled me again, and helped re-center me so that I write for the right reasons.
GAH!
I have just realized that I am procrastinating against writing and revising my stories, and I don’t know why. Dangit.
Sometimes that happens. What always works for me is taking a good, hard look at my story and figuring out why I’m *not* excited to write (or revise) it. Sometimes the characters are lackluster; sometimes the magnet that drew me to a plot just vanishes. Eventually I’ll figure out what makes my blood sing, and then I can re-orient my story into something I don’t want to hold off writing. Hope that helps
No words for almost 3 weeks now. I hate going this long without new words, but any day now they will start flowing again.
1237 words today, finally !! Not sure what to even say about those words, it’s a time when the family goes through a dramatic change, never to be the same again. I have deleted a lot of paragraphs in this post. I am rambling because I am still caught up in the scene, one foot in my world, one imaginary foot in theirs. it’s a very interesting feeling.
Has WABWM moved again? I am not seeing anyone else posting. ??
My internet is down for a bit–I’m borrowing my sister’s to post this–so I’m not posting much. But I’m sixty pages into revision, and I discovered two important things about my story. It gets very interesting around page 45, and the revision so far hasn’t been nearly as hard as I thought it would be.
I might get this beast out the door yet.
I’m still here too… sort of. Stuck and too busy to think about how to get passed it. I hope to spend some time tonight though.
I’ve been out of the country for the last couple of weeks, so I haven’t gotten much work done. Some ideas for a new short story revealed themselves to me, though, and I was able to spend a little time mind-mapping some of them on my iPad while I was on my trip.
No new words this week. I work full-time in a very unstable environment. We have had something like 4 waves of layoffs in less than a year. I suspect more waves are coming. I am not afraid of it, look forward to it, but that is another story. So, I am setting up an alternate source of income and looking at part-time jobs with benefits, so I could hopefully spend more of my productive time writing — which is mornings.
I’m writing in leaps and bounds on Monday through Friday, slowing down and switching to whatever project I want on the weekends. I’ve got over 8K words this week and still haven’t done today’s.
I’ve also got a question. I haven’t gotten any scenes past #15, and the suspense is killing me! How can I get the more recent scenes?
No new words today. Got up too late. There is always tomorrow … tonight I have writing group.
I actually haven’t been getting much done this week. I’ve had something of a cold, and I think it’s been sapping my energy.
I am doing Holly’s Walkthrough of HTTS and really getting a lot out of it. No words right now. I got the first website built. I did it for a friend, so I could learn and learn fast. Now, I can start on mine that will hopefully be the beginning of extra/alternate/supplemental income. 1 down, 2or3or 4 to go! I will share the URL when the site goes live.
Seems pretty quiet around here. I had an epic dream last ngiht, I have not had one for years. I spent my writing time this morning writing the details. I wonder if one of the details belongs in Bx2? Interesting thought …
Ok, I have officially finished my first draft of Bx2. It has some gaping holes so I decided to fix these in revision mode rather then first draft mode. So, I have officially started revision. YAY!! (I hope this thread becomes active again. If it has moved while Holly gears back up, will someone let me know.)
Hi Hanna, congratulations! that is such a great accomplishment. I’m so happy for you!
I know it’s so quiet around here. I haven’t been working on my project at all- just letting life distract me so nothing to post. I would like to get back into it though. I’m starting to get that feeling again: I need to start writing again.
Thanks, Gabby, I am knee deep into revision. I used to do my thinking/planning during the day and my writing in the morning. But, not so much lately, so I try to work on it over lunch and a few evenings. I keep my notebook handy all the time now, because little moments of free time happen in the oddest places. i call it my muse’s notebook. I need for my pysche, creative side, and muse to know that I am serious about this.
Hey everyone,
I’m home on holidays visiting family and trying to pick up my revision where I left off. Paradoxically I get a lot more done when I’m working and my time is limited than when I have all this free time – I could burn whole days just sitting and staring at a screen instead of writing, or getting distracted by movies and internet and people wandering around the house. If I have a schedule to work to it’s another story.
But I’ve got all my ARC-project music going to stir the inspiration pot, got a new laptop (the old one died a colourful death) and found a nifty program called yWriter, which I’m in the process of moving my stuff over to. I know, I’d prefer to be working from a hard copy too, but it’s not practical to cart the manuscript and scene cards around in my suitcase (yes it is that heavy) so I need to be able to revise on the go. I have a printed copy in Japan and by now I’ve all but memorised the entire book.
That said, I’ll probably get a fresh printout of the manuscript come Monday and have one to work from on both sides of the ocean.
Until then I’ll use yWriter to juggle scenes.
I have been percolating ideas that will change the entire series – and on how to take it online, something I always wanted to do but was afraid of losing my shot at seeing a printed copy on shelves if I did. Holly’s changeover has inspired me, as it’s inspired others, and I realize now I care more about seeing the story through and seeing it out there than I do about money or the cred of legacy publishing.
Good times ahead.
I have started my revision, but I am still doing the legwork before I start back into words. I am following the walkthroughs because I know I have holes in the story, and they are pretty obvious: conflict, protagonist, plot line, narrators. The walkthroughs are really helping me identify the issues. Next up, HTRYN.
I’ve hacked my way through a good chunk of the Promises section, which was harder to get right than I thought – I tend to get a little flowery on the description, so the Promise Points add up ridiculously fast. I’m not actually sure if I’m doing it right; for example, the old inkeeper in the first scene who has a short chat with the MC (revealing a lot of aspects of the MC’s character as he does) rates 15 just for having dialogue and shuffling around the room as they talk. Still I’ve found a LOT of spots where I was waffling and need to trim it back, or follow through with it later.
My online publishing idea is also working out. I found the historical chronicle I half-wrote for my world: a gold mine. The seeds of a thousand short stories are sown right there.
…so I’ve completely fallen off the wagon. I meant to take some time last night but then didn’t. Really need to start working on my project again.
oops, and again…